The Journal, Spring 2013 by Kansas Leadership Center

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THE

JOURNAL

I N S P I R AT I O N F O R C I V I C L E A D E R S H I P I N K A N S A S

VOLUME 5 - ISSUE 1 - SPRING 2013

PIECES OF THE SOLUTION 17 counties moving together to craft a new story for southeast Kansas

THE BIG PICTURE

Transforming the higher education system in Kansas.

TAKING CARE OF YOURSELF Aligning purpose and practice

CHANGE AGENTS

How do you exercise influence in ethical, effective ways?

$10.00

THE

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JOURNAL

The Journal is published quarterly by the Kansas Leadership Center, which receives core funding from the Kansas Health Foundation. The Kansas Leadership Center equips people with the ability to make lasting change for the common good. KLC stands alone in the field of leadership development with its focus on leadership being an activity, not a role or position. Open to anyone wanting to move the needle on tough challenges in the civic arena, KLC envisions more Kansans sharing responsibility for acting together in pursuit of the common good. KLC MISSION To foster civic leadership for healthier Kansas communities KLC VISION To be the center of excellence for civic leadership development KANSAS LEADERSHIP CENTER BOARD OF DIRECTORS Karen Humphreys, Wichita (Chair) Ed O’Malley, Wichita (President & CEO)

Susan Kang, Lawrence Carolyn Kennett, Parsons David Lindstrom, Overland Park Greg Musil, Overland Park Reggie Robinson, Topeka Consuelo Sandoval, Garden City Clayton Tatro, Fort Scott Frank York, Ashland PERMISSIONS

Abstracting is permitted with credit to the source. For other reprint, copying, reproduction permission or subscriptions, contact Mike Matson at mmatson@kansasleadershipcenter.org. KANSAS LEADERSHIP CENTER

300 North Main, Suite 100 Wichita, Kansas 67202 316.712.4950 www.kansasleadershipcenter.org PHOTOGRAPHY

Jeff Tuttle Photography 220 N. Terrace Wichita, KS 67208 316.706.8529 jefftuttlephotography.com ARTWORK (Right and page 88)

Justin Marable www.justinmarable.com MANAGING EDITOR

Chris Green 316.712.4945 cgreen@kansasleadershipcenter.org GRAPHIC DESIGN

“W E ARE L IVING IN A N AGE OF THE M IG HT Y DYNA MITE OF TH IS UPH EAVING TH E S O CIAL AN ST RUCTURE A ND S T IRR ING TH OF M EN F RO M CEN TER TO CIR Mary Elizabeth Lease - Kansas populist orator (1

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E O F TH OUGH T. F T HOUG H T L A ND POL IT ICAL G T H E H EA RTS CIRCUMF ERENCE.” ator (1890)

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THE

JOURNAL

INSPIRATION FOR CIVIC LEADERSHIP IN KANSAS

VOLUME 5 - ISSUE 1 - SPRING 2013

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CONTENTS Welcome to the Journal By President & CEO Ed O’Malley . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Letters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Dispatches from the Kansas Leadership Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Leadership Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Dawn of a New Day Under the Dome Photo essay by Jeff Tuttle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Voices of Civic Leadership . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Pieces of the Solution: The Next Chapter for Southeast Kansas By Chris Green . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Change Agents Photos by Jeff Tuttle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 The Big Picture: Transforming Higher Education By Erin Perry O’Donnell, Laura Roddy, Patsy Terrell & Brian Whepley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Aligning Choices with Purpose Brings Rewards By Julia Fabris McBride . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Community Profile: Topeka By Sarah Caldwell Hancock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 Reflections on a Global Gathering By Nick Ellem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 Reviving Newton’s Historic Fox Theatre Photo essay by Jeff Tuttle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 The Fuse: Information and Inspiration about KLC Alumni Alumni Profiles: Leadership & Faith Edition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 Featured Artist: Pastureland By Justin Marable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 Poem: Band Practice By Ramona McCallum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 The Back Page By Mike Matson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

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QUARTERLY CONNECTION THE JOURNAL WILL NOW OFFER READERS INSPIRATION FOUR TIMES A YEAR

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As I write this, I'm waiting on a plane to take me to my ancestral home in Ireland. O'Malleys from far and wide will descend on the tiny village of Murroe, Ireland, outside Limerick. This is either our first O'Malley family reunion, or the first in well over a century. Needless to say, I'm excited. While there I'll have a social dinner with two Dubliners who visited Wichita last fall during the KLC Global Gathering. They are inspired by KLC and are hoping to start something similar for the Emerald Isle. At their request, I'll be visiting with the Dublin Chamber of Commerce CEO to discuss the KLC idea as well. My suitcase contains all the usual things you would imagine for a trip like this (although no umbrella ... I refuse to travel with an umbrella, even in Ireland). However, I also included several issues of The Journal among my things. They will be a nice leave-behind for the chamber CEO and will help my extended family understand what I do back here in the states. Of course, the KLC has bigger aims for The Journal than these minor purposes. First and foremost, The Journal is designed as a source of inspiration for you and others. There is a lot of leadership for the common good happening in Kansas and we can all be inspired to exercise more leadership by reading these stories. Second, The Journal shares stories and stunning photographs that create imagery about what leadership consistent with KLC ideas looks and feels like. We want to show just how widespread civic leadership is across Kansas and how many people believe in our state and creating a better future for it. Finally, The Journal keeps KLC in front of you. Unlike the typical seminar or continuing education conference, your KLC experience is not a "one and done." The Journal is one of many efforts utilized by KLC to allow our journey in leadership together to continue. Related to this last point, I am thrilled to announce that The Journal will now be a quarterly publication, meaning there will be twice as many issues this year than in the past. Long-time contributor to KLC, Chris Green, is the managing editor and is off to a great start. Chris and the whole team that brings us The Journal are working hard to create a publication that is worthy of the KLC idea and that serves the purposes mentioned above. It just so happens that they are also helping some O'Malley's across the pond understand what their cousin is a part of here in Kansas â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and what all those connected to KLC are a part of -- a grand effort to foster leadership for the common good. Onward!

Ed Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Malley President & CEO Kansas Leadership Center

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LETTERS

DEALING WITH ADAPTIVE ISSUES IN CITIZEN ENGAGEMENT

The Journal gladly welcomes letters to the editor, including responses to articles in the publication. Readers should address their comments to mmatson@kansasleadershipcenter.org.

The Journal article about how Johnson County government engaged citizens in tough budget choices (“Leading to Common Ground,” Fall 2012) suggested some influence by Kansas Leadership Center training. I’d like to make the connection even clearer, specifically as it relates to dealing with adaptive challenges.

We encourage readers to keep their submissions to fewer than 500 words. You may also mail letters to the Kansas Leadership Center offices at 300 North Main, Suite 100, Wichita, KS 67202.

In 2010, Consensus held a focus group with Johnson County’s manager and city managers to discuss how to build civility into the way the public is engaged. Just a few minutes into the discussion, and without prompting, group members began talking about the concept of adaptive challenges. Turns out, many had experienced KLC training. We were not surprised, then, when Johnson County chose to involve the public meaningfully in budget choices. (Full disclosure: Consensus led the focus groups that supplemented the online budget simulator.) The habitual way of engaging the public is the public hearing, a process created back when everything looked like a technical problem. Public hearings are required by law in many circum-

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stances and are usually held late in the game, sometimes right before a vote. Citizens sit in rows facing elected leaders, who are usually on a stage. Citizens go, one by one, to a microphone to make their statements. When Consensus held 20 focus groups in metro Kansas City and Lawrence, we found that almost everyone had experienced a public hearing. A public hearing is the exact wrong tool to use with adaptive challenges. Unlike technical problems, which we already know how to solve, adaptive challenges require new behaviors to close the gap between where we are and where we want to be. People need to be involved early to learn, wrestle with values choices, and consider new approaches. By showing people how to recognize adaptive challenges, KLC has begun to transform an ineffective old habit into new methods that bring out the best in everyone. Part of the reason governments haven’t broken this old habit already is the Fundamental Attribution Error, the tendency for humans to attribute people’s behavior to the way they are instead of the situation they’re in. For example, the Kettering Foundation has found that public administrators perceive the public as emotional, uninformed and self-interested. That perspective is built on encounters with a public that has been

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brought into the decision-making process too late to have the opportunity to fully grasp the issue or participate in the choice. If we see the way people are as the problem, we have little incentive to change the situation. When leaders can distinguish an adaptive challenge, they, like government officials in Johnson County, can see the situation for what it is. Johnson County leaders understood the need to engage people early in making values choices, and citizens responded. One indicator is that we had zero no-shows at the focus groups; the typical rate is around 30 percent.

KLC has found that the most common leadership error is that of mistaking adaptive problems for technical challenges. A Kansas filled with people who not only understand adaptive challenges but also know how to involve the public in addressing them is a Kansas ready for any challenge. JENNIFER WILDING

Director, Consensus KANSAS CITY, MO

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DISPATCHES

FROM THE KANSAS LEADERSHIP CENTER

LEADERSHIP LESSONS, PAGE BY PAGE.

Two of the Kansas Leadership Center’s founders, President & CEO Ed O’Malley and Senior Fellow David Chrislip, are nearing completion of a book about the work of the KLC. “For the Common Good: Redefining Civic Leadership” shares our belief that ‘civic leadership’ needs to become more purposeful, provocative and engaging in order to cope with today's civic challenges and to help transform the civic culture of our communities and regions. The real-life leadership dilemmas of five Kansans bring these ideas to life. Watch for it soon.

Kansas Action for Children, seeks to reduce childhood poverty by deepening her understanding of the issue, as well as Kansans’ perspectives on it. In doing so, she hopes to change the conversation about the issue. Both participants will work closely with the KLC, meeting frequently to leverage the participant’s content knowledge of the issue with the KLC’s process knowledge of adaptive work.

NEW OPPORTUNITIES ABOUND FOR KANSANS.

More Kansans than ever before can enjoy a powerful Kansas Leadership Center experience and join the nearly 2,000 KLC alumni working better their communities, organizations and themselves. In March, the KLC launched monthly opportunities for Kansans eager to explore and learn new, effective methods for making a difference on the issues that matter most to them. Your Leadership Edge, is a three-day, comprehensive exploration of the KLC leadership framework. Leadership for Lasting Change (formerly called Context & Competencies) allows participants an in-depth approach to examine and work their specific leadership challenge.

GATHERING PROMISES KHF FELLOWS OPPORTUNITIES TO CONNECT.

Alumni of the Kansas Health Foundation Fellows program will have the opportunity to strengthen relationships with other Fellows at “Reconnect, Realign, Renew: KHF Symposium 2013.” The gathering will take place from 1-8:30 p.m. May 9 in Wichita. Fellows alumni may register by clicking on the Fellows tab at the KLC website.

PROGRAM BRINGS NEW PARTNERSHIPS.

Two Kansans who intend to make a difference in others’ lives will be the inaugural participants in Onward Kansas, KLC’s new, personalized leadership development experience. Wayne Bell of Wichita, District Director of the U. S. Small Business Administration, seeks increased access to capital for disadvantaged Kansas businesses and the development of high growth firms in underserved communities. Shannon Cotsoradis of Lawrence, President & CEO of Topeka-based

FAITH PROGRAM TRANSITIONS.

Sue Dondlinger, project director for KLC’s Leadership & Faith: Transforming Communities initiative, retired from the position in March. Dondlinger has overseen the development and implementation of KLC’s successful teams programs, a faith faculty development initiative and seven local faith workshops. She also

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implemented the faith facilitator program for 22 individuals who were trained to go into United Methodist Churches and work with them using KLC’s civic leadership model and oversaw the coach training of 14 United Methodist pastors. She will continue to serve as a civic and community leadership coach for KLC and perform duties related to the leadership and faith grant for Kansas United Methodist communities. Thane Chastain began his duties as the new faith program manager in late March.

KONZA CLUBS GROWING, DEVELOPING.

The number of KLC alumni connecting with others in their communities who have also participated in a KLC program continues to grow. Konza Clubs now have champions in a dozen different communities and counting. These clubs are designed to connect KLC alumni to foster progress on civic issues, support each other and continue learning the principles and competencies of civic leadership. Please see the KLC website for more information. MOVING THE NEEDLE ON CIVIC CHANGE.

TEAM MEMBERS TAKE STEP FORWARD.

Two KLC programs aimed at fostering significant change in Kansas communities launched earlier this month The Visioneering Health Alliance Leadership Initiative aims to improve health and quality of life in the Wichita metro area and the Project 17 Leadership Initiative seeks to bolster the economy and quality of life in southeast Kansas (see page 18). The two efforts were chosen from among 21 statewide applicants for up to $1 million worth of the KLC unique training on civic engagement. Participants in both programs, which meet again in August, will work with a team coach to identify, plan and implement their strategies.

Twenty KLC coaches recently received certificates signifying their designation as certified Civic and Community Leadership Coaches. The certification means the coaches have met standards developed by the KLC for training, practice and assessment of coaching in civic and community settings. These standards supplement and align with standards of the coaching profession as developed by the International Coach Federation. The coaches are: Leon Atwell, Seth Bate, Greg Cole, Joyce McEwen Crane, Sue Dondlinger, Peggy Elliott, Darrell Hamlin, Suzanne Hawley, Andy Huckaba, Tim Link, Gina Maree, Greg Meissen, Carol Meyer, Marilyn O’Hearne, Steve Radley, Sylvia Robinson, Teresa Schwab, Mary Kay Siefers, Jeanette Siemens and Troy Unruh.

NEW BUILDING TAKES SHAPE.

Construction continues on the new Kansas Leadership Center and Kansas Health Foundation Conference Center, which will be complete and KLC’s new home later this year. Progress on the 36,000 square-foot flexible meeting space for conferences, large-group meetings, small gatherings, lectures and leadership trainings can be followed at http://opusdesignbuildkc.blogspot.com/. The Fall 2013 edition of the Journal will tell the story of the new space.

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THE LEADERSHIP LIBRARY

FILM EDITION

BOOKS ARE NOT THE ONLY PLACES WE CAN TO TURN TO FOR DEEP LEARNING ABOUT LEADERSHIP. WATCHING LEADERSHIP PLAY OUT ON FILM CAN ALSO PROVIDE KEEN INSIGHTS ABOUT WHAT IT TAKES TO LEAD FOR THE COMMON GOOD.

The Interrupters

A film by Steve James and Alex Kotlowitz The exercise of civic leadership, the KLC believes, requires skillful intervention and engaging others to advance your purpose. This documentary profiles real-life “violence interrupters” for an organization called CeaseFire in Chicago, which seeks to stop the spread of violence as if it were an infectious disease. The work of these interrupters, who tend to have violent pasts of their own, is the definition of skillful intervention. They step into perilous situations to defuse the tension between adversaries – often people they know – and stop an altercation from escalating. They work to develop relationships and expand the bandwidths of others, to help them move beyond violence. Intervening in difficult situations requires courage and candor. It means making conscious choices, acting experimentally, holding to purpose, giving the work back, speaking from the heart and, even, raising the heat. While most of us will hopefully never be in situations this tense and threatening, the interrupters in this film provide a glimpse into the power of personal interventions in leadership and what it takes to be effective. Leadership ideas to explore: Intervene Skillfully, Energize Others.

Have a book, film or other resource you’d like to see included in The Leadership Library? Please email your suggestions to Chris Green at: cgreen@kansasleadershipcenter.org.

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Moneyball

Starring Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill and Philip Seymour Hoffman, Directed by Bennett Miller When your current way of operating can’t get you the results you want, what do you do? When you’re Billy Beane (Pitt), general manager of the Oakland A’s baseball team, you think about the problem differently, experiment and learn how to operate outside your comfort zone. After his cash-strapped franchise gets poached of its star players, Beane, with the help of an assistant (Hill), turns to using statistics to identify unheralded but affordable players who can help his team rack up wins. It’s an approach that carries considerable risk; Beane – who flamed out as a baseball prospect himself – alienates his traditionally minded scouts who can’t break old habits, receives resistance from his manager (Hoffman) and faces the prospect of being the laughingstock of baseball if he’s wrong. But if he’s right, he’s seeking not just to win but to change the very way Major League’s franchises play the game of baseball. Leadership ideas to explore: Explore tough interpretations, distinguish between technical and adaptive work (Diagnose Situation); Experiment beyond your comfort zone (Manage Self); Act experimentally (Intervene Skillfully).

Lincoln

Starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field and Tommy Lee Jones, Directed by Steven Spielberg What does it take to advance a deeply held purpose in civic leadership? The path to true progress rarely runs a straight or comfortable road. This film shows how Abraham Lincoln (Day-Lewis) twisted arms, maneuvered and allowed for compromise to secure the votes needed for congressional approval of the 13th Amendment, whose ratification abolished slavery. But it is one scene in particular that resonates long after the movie ends. Lincoln tries to sway firebrand abolitionist and U.S. Representative Thaddeus Stevens (Jones) into compromising his principle of equality to allow for passage of the amendment to end slavery. When Stevens objects, citing the need to follow a moral compass, Lincoln rebuts him by saying, to paraphrase: A compass will point you true north. But it won’t show you the swamps between you and there. If you don’t avoid the swamps and other obstacles, what’s the use of knowing true north? Leadership ideas to explore: Choose among competing values (Manage Self); Hold to purpose (Intervene Skillfully); Work across factions, Start where they are (Energize Others).

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DAWN of a New Day UNDER THE

DOME The opening of the Kansas Legislature in January saw the largest class of first-time legislators in more than four decades. The following photographs show what itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s like to step into the role of citizen legislator through the eyes of four newcomers: Sen. Steve Fitzgerald of Leavenworth; Rep. Melissa Rooker of Fairway; Rep. Roderick Houston of Wichita; and Rep. Blaine Finch of Ottawa.

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Sen. Steve Fitzgerald of Leavenworth works in his new office on the first day of the session. Fitzgerald is one of 49 House members and four senators who are serving for the first time in the Legislature. He is part of a chamber that looks quite different after several incumbents were defeated during the past election cycle.

Rep. Roderick Houston of Wichita bows his head during the Houseâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s opening prayer. Houston is part of a significant influx of newcomers to the State Capitol that came about after federal judges redrew legislative boundaries last June following a redistricting dispute.

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Rep. Melissa Rooker of Fairway checks her messages outside the House chamber. Rooker is among nearly three dozen first-time legislators – the bulk of the freshmen class -participating in KLC’s Leadership and Legacy in the Statehouse: A New Legislator’s Program. The extensive, seven-month offering is designed to address the unique challenges and opportunities facing freshmen lawmakers.

Reps. Shanti Gandhi of Topeka and Blaine Finch of Ottawa take the Oath of Office. The two freshmen, as well as Fitzgerald, Houston and Rooker, are among the participants in KLC’s Leadership and Legacy in the Statehouse program.

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VOICES OF

CIVIC LEADERSHIP

AN ADAPTIVE VIEW OF A TECHNICAL WORLD

I’m a recovering expert-holic. I’m addicted to solutions. I thrive at solving problems. Analyzing is almost a hobby of mine. I loved math and science as a kid. I studied engineering in college. I’ve worked in information technology for 17 years. I’ve served on my city’s planning commission. And it makes me feel good to put my expertise on display and to good use. My self-worth has been wrapped up in these abilities.

But through perseverance, I began to understand. Applying adaptive thinking to just my professional life created an unmanageable dichotomy in my life, and I discovered that my personal life equally yearned for it. With a holistic approach, I strengthened my adaptive and experimentation muscles. And to my surprise, I started enjoying the very adaptive work that I disliked throughout my technical life.

But I wasn’t creating the future that I wanted for myself or my community. My influence was defined by the technical issues that I could solve. Too often, my skill sets were unnecessary and sometimes even counterproductive. Something had to give.

Where did that leave me? Lost and confused come to mind. Overwhelmed fits me well. But today, I find the future exhilarating. I listen for adaptive challenges. I tell my technical muscles to sit on the sidelines and yell at my adaptive muscles to get into the game. They fail more often than they succeed, but they are getting stronger in the process. Malcolm Gladwell says that we need to practice something for 10,000 hours before we become highly skilled at something. He reminds me that I have a long way to go.

Enter the Kansas Leadership Center. It speaks to the need to move beyond technical issues and to adaptive challenges. On one hand, that made me vulnerable. If my technical expertise wasn’t necessary, then what was my value? But on the other hand, it provided a way to grow beyond my current limitations and frustrations.

Lawrence Andre lives in the Johnson County community of Mission and has served his city, county and region for nine years. He participated in KLC’s Context and Competencies in 2011 and ExecCoach Kansas in 2012. Today, he helps others ask the questions that increase joy, remove barriers, and ultimately create success in their lives, projects, and teams.

It took me almost a year to understand the dichotomy between technical and adaptive. I remember the first time I was asked to experiment with an adaptive challenge. Experimentation is a technical thing. Aren’t I supposed to be doing adaptive work? I didn’t get it.

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WORDS TO LEAD BY: FROM LINE TO VERSE, POETRY OFFERS IMPORTANT LESSONS FOR LEADERSHIP, LIFE

All the arts connect us with parts of ourselves not always in evidence when answering emails, sitting in meetings or delegating tasks. Writing is the only art that does it in words. Discoveries that articulate themselves as they're revealed enhance our understanding of our communities and ourselves. Furthermore, poetry teaches us how to listen carefully: to the words we read or write, and by extension, to the words we speak or hear. “Let me not to the marriage of true minds/ Admit impediments,” Shakespeare wrote in one of his most famous sonnets, illuminating how listening deeply dissolves what separates us.

most true to show itself. As e.e. cummings writes of what we know most deeply, “(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud/ and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows/ higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide).” Cultivate Courage and Inspiration: “In every heart there is a coward and a procrastinator,” writes Mary Oliver, who then reminds us that “In every heart there is a god of flowers, just waiting/ to stride out of a cloud and lift its wings.” Poetry can give us inspiration as well as help us cultivate courage. Through images, rhythms and what's between the lines in a poem, we can see, through what lives in every heart, how we're not alone, the work is big, and we have our part. We can also see how, despite all the challenges, there are occasional wings to help us lead.

As we follow our callings to lead in our communities, churches and synagogues, schools, workplaces and government, we can turn to poetry for help with the following: Remember Our Values: Many people begin leadership positions with the cleanest of intentions. Then reality hits: the co-chair flakes out, the office rent goes up, the team in charge of outreach falls into a vat of inertia, and the foundation supporting the work decides to take its investment another direction. The pressure can build to the point where even the best leader forgets the path that brought her here. “Hold on to what you believe/ even if it’s a tree that stands by itself,” reads a Hopi poem, reminding us to steer by our values.

Learn How To Live: Poetry can show us our best answers to the most important question we can ask: how to live? Consider the late Kansas poet William Stafford's poem, “Being a Person,” which ends with, “How you stand here is important. How you/ listen for the next things to happen. How you breathe.” This poem reminds how the most effective way to lead is to stand with integrity, listen carefully and look deeply, and keep breathing. Expect Surprise: Poetry, most of all, surprises us, demonstrating ways in which language can show us something new of the world, or something there all along. David Whyte surprises us in talking about dark times and being alone in his poem “Sweet Darkness,” in which he writes, “anything or anyone/ that does not bring you alive/ is too small for you.” Poetry is composed of surprise: not just making the invisible visible, but more importantly, making the visible visible.

Act Ethically: Great damage is done by people in leadership positions who don't know their own minds, aren't clear about their biases or intentions, or can't see through their blindnesses. While a poem isn't a cure-all for all the unethical acts of the world's leaders, a poem can aim us toward more ethical action. Songwriter Greg Greenway in his very poetic song “A Road Worth Walking Down,” writes of seeing what he was previously blind to, which led him to wonder about other ways in which he was blind to the issues around him. Such awareness is key to living ethnically.

Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg is the 2009-2013 Poet Laureate of Kansas and author or editor of 16 books, including the nonfiction book “Needle in the Bone: How a Holocaust Survivor and Polish Resistance Fighter Beat the Odds and Found Each Other” and the novel “The Divorce Girl.” Founder of Transformative Language Arts at Goddard College, where she teaches, Caryn leads community writing workshops widely, and, with singer Kelley Hunt, Brave Voice writing and singing retreats. Her website is www.CarynMirriamGoldberg.com.

Access Wisdom: How do we know what we know? So often, the most important knowledge in our hearts and minds isn't right on the surface, while old beliefs and, particularly, old habits die hard. Accessing the core wisdom that runs down our spines takes both will and surrender, paying close attention and letting go of preconceived notions to make room for what's 17.

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COFFEY MIAMI ANDERSON FRANKLIN ALLEN NEOSHO WILSON CRAWFORD LABETTE BOURBON GREENWOOD LINN CHEROKEE ELK CHAUTAUQUA MONTGOMERY WOODSON THE NEXT CHAPTER In a region where stories abound, 17 counties in southeast Kansan seek to tackle daunting problems and write a narrative of a better future

By Chris Green

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Roam long enough through the diverse and often beautiful landscape that makes up southeast Kansas and one is sure to find

A COMPELLING STORY. Turn a corner and there will be a marker of the region’s profound history, one marked by bloody frontier battles over slavery that took place before and during the Civil War and brought to life by places such the Fort Scott National Historic Site and the John Brown Museum State Historic Site in Osawatomie.

a fiercely unique spirit that has long distinguished the southeast from other parts of Kansas. For decades, though, one of the dominant narratives has also been the region’s struggles, which include economic difficulties, deeply entrenched poverty and indicators that it’s the least healthy region of the state. These days, though, efforts are taking shape to turn the page to a new chapter for this intriguing, surprising and colorful region of Kansas.

Pass by its fields and trees and stumble upon small, tight-knit communities with graceful, century-old and older buildings standing sentry in downtowns. There are sprawling town squares filled by courthouses, gazebos or bandstands, which during the warmer months of the year may brim to life with concerts by community bands or festivals.

People who live in the counties that make up southeast Kansas have started the process of writing a new story for the future. It is an effort that could change not only how others talk about the region, but also the very stories that people who live there tell about themselves.

Head another direction and one might see signs of the resources that Kansans once summoned forth from the land in mighty quantities — coal, lead, zinc and natural gas — and the railroad hubs and industrialization that have helped fuel the nation’s growth.

While there’s no denying that there are difficult challenges to confront here, it’s not the only the story to be told. Look throughout the region and one can also see a number of bright spots or trends emerging that represent resources to leverage or provide signs of hope for better days ahead.

The vast mineral wealth of the past century brought laborers from around the world to work the mines, smelters and other industries, including an influx from the Balkans region of southeastern Europe. The diversity created by that immigration is still celebrated in the region at festivals such as Little Balkans Days in Pittsburg.

It is these positive sparks that the residents of southeast Kansas will attempt to make use of or build on as they create momentum for making progress on the region’s deepest, most daunting problems. In the process, they will be working to fashion a new narrative to accompany what is hoped to be significant, sustained gains for the region over the coming decades.

In some places, there might be still echoes of the tumultuous political history that sometimes marked parts of the region — including labor unrest — and

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C L O C K W I S E F RO M T O P : A tree is silhouetted

against the sunset in Labette County in Southeast Kansas; An old school house sits near Elk City Lake; B&W Trailer Hitches employee Martin Vega works on towing products at the Humboldt firm, where he has been employed for five years. The southeast Kansas region has a number of assets, including a profound history and a solid industrial base, to draw on as it attempts to significantly improve its economy.

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COUNTY HEALTH OUTCOMES RANKINGS 2013 {1} healthiest to {1O2} least healthy COFFEY {24} , MIAMI {30} , FRANKLIN {57} , ANDERSON {67} , CRAWFORD {81} , LINN {84} , WILSON {85} , ALLEN {86} , BOURBON {89} , GREENWOOD {91} , LABETTE {93} , NEOSHO {94} , MONTGOMERY {96} ,

ROUGHLY

CHEROKEE {98} , CHAUTAUQUA {100} , ELK {101} , WOODSON {102} ,

PER CAPITA INCOME:

PERSONS BELOW POVERTY

state average is $26,545

state average is 12.6%, U.S. average is 14.3%

$21,800 14.4%

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FOR DECADES,

One of the dominant narratives has been the regionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s struggles, which include economic difficulties, deeply entrenched poverty and indicators that itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the least healthy region in the state. These days, efforts are taking shape to turn the page to a new chapter for this intriguing, surprising and colorful region of Kansas.

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S Y D N E Y H U LV E Y, 1 1 , of Columbus pets a horse before riding at the Horses of Hope Riding Center in Baxter Springs. The center opened in 1997 to provide equine-assisted therapeutic services in southeast Kansas and the four-state area. It received grant funds in 2012 from the Community Foundation of Southeast Kansas for Phase 2 of a healthy living program collaboration with public schools and the Kansas Health Foundation. Active community foundations represent an important resource in southeast Kansas for meeting emerging community needs.

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REFRESHING COLLABORATION

where there are high levels of engagement in making life better there.

At the top of the list in terms of regional assets for southeast Kansas are the people who live and work there, and their commitment to making it a better place to live and work.

“There are people in communities in southeast Kansas who care about their communities, and they care about the children and families in their communities. I think they’re engaging in ways that are forward-thinking and with the intention of building a strong and vibrant community.”

Ottawa City Manager Richard Nienstedt says he sees the communities of southeast Kansas “surviving and moving ahead,” even in a national economic climate that can produce difficult headwinds.

One example of that commitment is the interest that southeast Kansans are displaying in developing stronger leadership skills. Not only are there thriving community leadership programs, including several countywide classes, but southeast Kansans are partnering with the Kansas Leadership Center to build up their civic leadership skills to better address the region’s challenges.

“I think what you’re seeing is people who really understand that if they can’t be better, they can’t help their community be better,” says Nienstedt, who worked in Fort Scott for 14 years before coming to Ottawa in 2007. “And they know their community can’t progress unless they are involved and getting their hands dirty.”

Participants in the Project 17 Leadership Initiative, named for the 17 counties involved in seeking economic improvement in southeast Kansas, went through their first round of immersion-style KLC training in April and will meet again in August. Their efforts include working with a team coach to identify, plan and implement a strategy to make progress on the economy and quality of life. The initiative was chosen from among 21 applicants for the opportunity to receive leadership training from the KLC valued at up to $1 million. The goal of the partnership is to help turn the tide on the region’s tough public issues.

Communities such as Pittsburg and Iola have launched visioning processes to set courses for better futures. Active community foundations, such as the Community Foundation of Southeast Kansas, bolster charities and address emerging community needs. Churches across the region, too, are working to improve their communities and are stepping into new roles. The Fort Scott Church of the Nazarene recently opened a coffee shop in the community’s downtown as a way to reach out to area youth. First United Methodist Church of Independence has worked with educators and social workers to provide a program that boosts child brain development through increased physical activity. Meanwhile, Eureka United Methodist Church has launched a program to help parents with young children by providing care and activities on days when school starts late for teacher in-service training about once a month. All three churches have participated in the Kansas Leadership Center’s Leadership & Faith program.

The Project 17 regionalization initiative to improve economic opportunities and quality of life in southeast Kansas started at the behest of four state senators in the region and sprung forward from an economic summit in 2011. Two of those lawmakers — Senate Vice President Jeff King, of Independence, and Sen. Pat Apple, of Louisburg — remain in the Legislature. But redistricting (which altered Apple’s district to include just parts of Miami and Johnson counties) and primary battles between conservative and moderate Republicans resulted in two other lawmakers, former Sens. Bob Marshall and Dwayne Umbarger, not returning. Sens. Jacob LaTurner of Pittsburg, Caryn Tyson of Parker, and Forrest Knox of Altoona, now also represent the region.

Farmers’ markets, community gardens, races and other amenities and initiatives that support healthier lifestyle behaviors are springing up throughout the region. The first-ever Portland Alley Marathon — named for the cement produced at plants along the route from Chanute to Humboldt and Iola — happened last November and promoted regional collaboration rather than rivalry.

People in southeast Kansas have long turned worked together to support each other when they have faced significant needs and demands. Rural schools, particularly those located in areas with high rates of poverty

Kelly Peak, special projects director of development for the Southeast Kansas Education Service Center at Greenbush, says she sees examples of communities

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and declining enrollment, have a long history of collaboration, Peak says. Greenbush, for example, works as a service center to provide equal educational opportunities for all kids, partnering with school districts to identify common needs, shared interests and collaborative solutions and be a resource for kids, families, teachers and schools.

current leadership screwing up this world. I think they look at Washington, D.C., and say, ‘We don’t want our community to look like that.’” Joyce Cussimanio, who lives in Girard and works at Neosho County Community College in Chanute, also mentions the fact that she knows a number of young SEK citizens who are moving back to the area who provide additional reasons for hope. These individuals may be able to see greater possibilities from having left the area for a time, have a different perspective and a certain energy and commitment for creating the best of both worlds. “They have chosen to return; they see the challenges of making a living here and using their degrees in meaningful ways. They have been to the big city and want the opportunities of city life with the simplicity of the rural area of their youth.”

Coming together to do the right things for others in tough times is just something people do here. “I’m excited for Project 17 and maybe some new ideas that refresh that collaborative spirit with some new concepts to really engage people in building the competencies for leadership,” Peak says.

MEANINGFUL CHANGE ‘TAKES TIME’

The significant presence of educational institutions also represents a resource for the region to tap into more. Not only is there Greenbush, but there is also a Kansas Board of Regents institution in Pittsburg State University, as well as Ottawa University and six community colleges within its area.

The sizes of the communities throughout southeast Kansas also provide some unique advantages, says Gary Palmer, director of development at Fort Scott Community College. Pittsburg, with a little more than 20,000 people, is the region’s largest city. Other significant cities range in size from close to 1,000 to as many as 12,000.

New assets keep springing up, too, such as a new health science building at Labette Community College in Parsons, which is scheduled to be completed in the summer of 2013. The 28,000 square foot LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified building will have a hospital simulation lab and will house nursing, respiratory therapy, radiography and diagnostic medical sonography programs.

Palmer says that people living in these manageably sized communities can more easily tap into one another — and the resources that can be shared — on a personal level. Smaller communities allow for the kind of genuine, quality interpersonal relationships, connectedness and support that are desired but much more difficult to attain in other, more populous parts of the country.

Such developments are an indication of strong health services being offered in the region, such as at the Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas. The federally qualified health center not only has a growing Pittsburg clinic that takes medical, dental and behavioral health appointments, but it also has clinic locations in Columbus, Iola and Baxter Springs.

For example, Palmer says, in a large metropolis, many have access to health care, but in the SEK and smaller communities, people are likely to have a physician who remembers you, your interests and sometimes even your chart. “You can count on each other, and you can team together to utilize each other’s resources and abilities and accomplish more together than you could by yourself.”

Shawn Naccarato, director of government and community relations for Pittsburg State, says colleges and universities provide communities with important cultural opportunities, such as arts and sporting events. ”These university events also provide an important avenue for developing community through shared experiences and an opportunity to connect with one another,” Naccarato says. In some communities, high schools provide a rallying point.

Another factor is the invigoration of younger southeast Kansans who care about what happens in their communities and the region. Several young professionals groups have sprouted up, and Nienstedt says that he’s increasingly noticed people in their 30s and 40s more actively exercising leadership in his community and making progress on quality of life issues. “I just think that generation is really concerned about the

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C L O C K W I S E F RO M T O P Participants run the

Portland Alley marathon between Iola and Chanute, one of the growing number of activities promoting healthier lifestyles in southeast Kansas; Student Lucas Linden works on a Harley Davidson motorcycle at the Fort Scott Harley Davidson Technician Training Center in Frontenac; The historic St. Francis de Hieronymo Catholic Church in the Neosho County town of St. Paul. Higher education institutions and active churches represent two resources for southeast Kansas to leverage in improving its economy and health outcomes.

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THE COUNTIES OF SOUTHEAST KANSAS/PROJECT 17

Greenwood

Elk

Chautauqua

28.

Franklin

Miami

Coffey

Anderson

Linn

Woodson

Allen

Bourbon

Wilson

Neosho

Crawford

Montgomery

Labette

Cherokee

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POPULATION:

IN 2010 CENSUS Roughly equal to the populations of Topeka and Kansas City, Kansas, combined. Represents 9.5 percent of Kansas population (2.89 million)

1900 POPULATION: 356,753 1920 POPULATION: 398,106 1960 POPULATION: 288,938 1990 POPULATION: 265,997

LAND AREA:

SQUARE MILES (bigger than the states of Maryland,Vermont, New Hampshire and Massachusetts). Accounts for about 13 percent of the stateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s land area.

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Higher educational institutions play a key economic development role in helping build up businesses and by producing students who are better trained to fill jobs at those companies. “I think that’s the role that higher education can play by helping folks move out of that need for state subsidy and move them towards a job,” Naccarato says. “Once we have more folks in the labor force, it will be easier to build businesses here and attract them from the outside.” Even though the heyday of mining here is long past, southeast Kansas retains an impressive base of industries to build on. And there are, indeed, already pockets where there are jobs that need to be filled. One can also find a number of successful, unique or noteworthy businesses operating in the region. Among them: B&W Trailer Hitches in Humboldt; Cobalt Boats in Neodesha; Watco Companies, a rail service provider, in Pittsburg; and Key Industries, which makes bib overalls and other clothing, in Fort Scott. On the other hand, even with its assets, many people are in poverty or not self-sufficient in southeast Kansas. But the increasing willingness of people being able to recognize those issues also represents a step forward, says Richard Jackson of the Ottawa-based East Central Kansas Economic Opportunity Corp., which works to eliminate the causes and conditions of poverty in its service area. “The number one aspect of dealing with poverty or job creation, or unemployment or drugs or gangs, I guess, is recognizing that there is a problem,” Jackson says. “That there is a concern that needs to be dealt with. I think so many times (people) want to say ‘ignore it’ or say that ‘this doesn’t happen in my community.’” But seeing meaningful progress on difficult problems decades in the making is probably going to take time, says Tony Encarnacion of Parsons. When Leadership Labette’s community leadership program class visited the Capitol two years ago, Encarnacion says it had the opportunity to sit down and have a substantial conversation with Gov. Sam Brownback. He challenged the group to come up with some ideas that would increase social and economic outcomes for those on temporary state assistance, which ultimately helped spur a cooperative effort back home among a number of agencies, organizations and elected officials.

“It will be really interesting to see what happens,” Encarnacion says. “You know, we realize with some of these things, you aren’t going to see a change immediately, but you might see a change in ten years.” Being better able to both tackle tough, deeply entrenched problems while also being able to recognize and talk about the good things about southeast Kansas is also something people in the region hope to get better at over time. “I think success tends to breed more success, and I think one of the most important things that we can do is to do a good job of telling the story when there are successes,” Naccarato says. It’s also clearly true that there are those with doubts about both efforts like Project 17 and the ability of southeast Kansas to move the needle on these significant, persistent problems. For some skeptics, economic improvement may not seem like it is happening anywhere fast enough and they want to see tangible results more quickly. There are also surely some for whom regionalization efforts seem akin to rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic – the ship’s going down, no matter what. But Kathryn Richard, regional director of the Kansas Small Business Development Center at Pittsburg State, says the region has a lot going for it, including existing resources for economic development. But people here will also need to avoid a “doom and gloom” outlook that overlooks good things happening in southeast Kansas, too. “Overall, there are a lot of people that are hopeful and who are willing to work toward the betterment of southeast Kansas,” Richard says. “We just have to tell our story,” to those in the region as well as outside of the region. For hopeful southeast Kansans, like those involved in the Project 17 leadership initiative, addressing the roots of the region’s problems means both a willingness to acknowledge the tough challenges at hand and a recognition that there are indeed good resources to utilize or build upon. Much like explorers, they’ll be venturing into unchartered territory to risk sketching out a future that can’t yet be entirely known, rather than accepting that the way things currently are – a reality that disappoints far too many -- is all that will ever be.

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BUILDING A BETTER SOUTHEAST KANSAS: Resources and Reasons to Hope for a Brighter Future

STRONG small-community health care services Growing interest in

CIVIC LEADERSHIP development opportunities

PARTNERSHIP and collaboration withing and between communities Growth of activities and offerings that encourage

HEALTHIER LIFESYLES

CARING PEOPLE who want to build stronger, more vibrant communities Impressive industrial base and unique,

ENTERPRISING COMPANIES

ACTIVE COMMUNITY foundations meeting community need Increased engagement of

YOUNG PROFESSIONALS

COMMUNITIES small enough to foster strong, deep relationships and connections Existing job

OPPORTUNITIES

EMERING EFFORTS to alleviate poverty and increase self-suffiency CHURCHES taking on community concerns Strong

EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES and institutions, including Greenbush,

Pittsburg State, Ottawa University and six community colleges.

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Russell Conner, a carpenter at the Fort Scott National Historic Site, looks over the grounds in the morning. Southeast Kansasâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; rich history reaches back to the frontier days before Kansas became a state. Its heritage includes bloody battles over slavery before and during the Civil War, an influx of immigrants who worked to extract the regionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mineral wealth and tumultuous politics such as labor unrest. 30.

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VIEWPOINT: Friends and Neighbors in this thing together

Editorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s note: Jared Witt is a 1989 graduate of Fort Scott High School, graduated from Ozark Christian College in Joplin and has a master of divinity and doctorate in religious studies from Yale University. He worked for years in the northeastern U.S. before returning with his family to become the pastor of Fort Scottâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s First Presbyterian Church in July 2012. He is a 2012 alumnus of Leadership and Faith -- Southeast Kansas.This note was originally an email addressed to Gary Palmer, director of development at Fort Scott Community College. The reason I'm hopeful about developments in our area is that so many people are working together to find new ways forward. If we listen to some, this shouldn't be a vibrant and interesting place to live. And yet here we all are, collaborating to find workable solutions for our communities. It takes hope not to listen to the voices that say, "Only big cities matter." Of course, there is plenty to discourage and frustrate a person, let's be honest. There are real challenges that might tempt us to despair. Optimism and hope don't require that we stick our heads in the sand about the challenges. In fact, we need more honesty about obstacles to community flourishing. But what I see is good things happening because people aren't waiting around on others to fix problems. I see local people finding local solutions to real problems. Optimism means we can't settle for low levels of life satisfaction ("Oh well, I guess this is all we can hope for"). Optimism means that we can't despair, as if the future is set in stone and nothing can change. No, optimistic people are people who believe the future can be different, and better. Optimistic people believe that committed people working together can actually alter what tomorrow will look like. So, we celebrate the good trend lines around us. And I think the only thing that helps me stay at it, amidst all the challenges, is that we're all friends and neighbors in this thing together. Seeing all the ways others are contributing creates positive peer pressure. It makes me want to be a part of the action. It's hard work and takes patience, but it's also deeply satisfying.

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CHANGE We all know them. Theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re plugged-in and effective. They get things done. Label them however you want. Movers and shakers, go-to people, change agents. They build the relationships, leverage the capabilities of others, exercise influence and move the needle. Here are three you may recognize from Kansasâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; three largest communities and their insights.

AG E N TS

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“T HI S I S T HE CO M MU NI TY W H E R E I H AV E CH OS E N TO L IV E AN D WOR K, A N D I FEE L A N O BL I GAT I O N TO M A KE I T T H E BEST I CAN .”

JOHN DICUS

Topeka

Chairman, President/CEO of Capitol Federal Savings

Modest and self-effacing to a fault, John Dicus personifies legitimacy. A Topeka community colleague said of him, “I consider his support to be like the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval.” Dicus’ passion for Topeka is manifested in Heartland Visioning, the Capitol Federal Natatorium and the large regional swim meets it attracts, the Kansas Avenue project and helping establish a child care center for employees of several Topeka businesses.The Dicus default is care and concern for others and a willingness to mentor. Throw in a longstanding family business legacy (his father and grandfather helped create Capitol Federal) and the result is something genuinely Kansan. 35.

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THE FILTER SHE APPLIES WHE N AS K E D TO G ET IN VO LVE D? “W ILL MY E NGAGE ME NT MA KE A D IF FERE N CE? DO ES I T M OV E TH IS COM M U NI TY FOR WAR D? D OES I T NEE D TO HAP PEN ? ”

MARY BIRCH

Johnson County

Government Relations Coordinator, Lathrop & Gage, LLP

Birch is fluent in the infrastructure of civic engagement: visioning, strategic planning and communicating a message. She derives joy from putting all kinds of people in a room and helping them work together. You’ll find Birch’s fingerprints on the Johnson County Education Research Triangle, Overland Park Convention Center, Prairiefire Museum, 2010 Kansas transportation plan and the next generation of Johnson County leaders. She’s at her best when deftly clearing hurdles that lead to the goal. “I’m not so good at checkers, would rather play chess.” 36.

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JEFF FLUHR

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Wichita

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President, Wichita Downtown Development Corporation

“I E NJOY FOSTERI NG PART NERS H IP S A RO UN D AN I D EA /CONC EPT. IT I S PH EN O M EN AL TO B E I NVOLV E D IN D E RI V ING A P ROCESS A ND T HE N SE E T H AT PR OCESS R ESU LT I N THE I DEA/CON CE PT BECOMIN G R EA LI TY.”

You need not travel very far in downtown Wichita to see evidence of Jeff Fluhr’s handiwork. Since arriving in Wichita in 2008, Fluhr has been instrumental in moving downtown back into the consciousness of Wichita’s citizenry and has transformed the public agenda item from “old business” to “new business.” Think of Jeff Fluhr not as the violinist but as the orchestra conductor, managing collective engagement from the private sector and local government to stimulate new investment and interest in downtown Wichita. No longer is downtown Wichita a moribund afterthought. Among the efforts Fluhr Invests his emotion and intellect are Project Downtown Initiative, Block One, Visioneering Wichita and Young Professionals of Wichita. 37.

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THE

BIG PICTURE: Tr a n s f o r m i n g H i g h e r E d u c a t i o n The future of Kansas and its economy will be profoundly shaped by its colleges and universities. In a time of rapid technological change, tuition increases, rising expenses, the challenge of competing for top-notch faculty and increased pressure on state government support, Kansans from all segments of the system are attempting to exercise leadership and transform higher education for the 21st century. These are the stories of five individuals who share a commitment to moving the needle for the betterment of their institutions â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and for the common good of the state.

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By Patsy Terrell

MAKING QUANTUM LEAPS: Kans as State pre s ide n t wo r king to mo bilize unive r s ity on m ajo r lo ng -te r m g oal

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When it came time to plan out Kansas State University’s place in the future, President Kirk Schulz and the university community set their sights on not just improvement, but transformation.

A “Visionary Plan” calls for Kansas State plan to be recognized as one of nation's Top 50 Public Research Universities by 2025. Developed over an 18-month planning process, it must be accomplished over more than a decade and aims to change what the university looks like in some very significant ways.

It is part of an effort, championed by Schulz, to aspire for something greater than what could be accomplished over the course of something like a five-year strategic plan. In mapping out a “transforming plan,” Schulz says, the university is going out far enough that people don’t have to worry about the effort “day to day.” This allows people to dream “and not just think of incremental change but quantum change. “I’ve never seen an organization take a major leap forward without an aggressive, stretching goal; significant involvement by all the people in the organization in how to achieve that goal; and then constant communication back about progress,” Schulz says. “The 2025 plan has all three of those elements. I don’t believe you can do any of it without all three parts being there.” The 2025 process is being driven, Schulz says, by the university’s quest to be more nationally recognized and to leverage “opportunity” that would come with that. He says being nationally recognized will net better offers for graduates and more career opportunities for faculty and staff. But he says the connection between research and students was not obvious to everyone. “Kansas State has a history of being very student oriented, and yet we are talking about expanding our research and scholarship activities — two items which can seem at first to be contradictory,” he says. After much discussion with faculty, staff and students, some consensus has been reached that a faculty who is active in research can deliver a more up-to-date class. Creating a plan for change is no easy feat in an institution with about 5,000 employees and 24,000 students. It requires not just direction from the president, but conscious efforts to engage and energize others in the planning.

“We took a lot of time in the development of the 2025 plan to make sure everybody in our campus community had the opportunity to really participate in the development of the plan, critique it and had some time to digest it,” says Schulz. As might be expected, one of the challenges to any such goal is financial. Moving the university forward is going to require university officials to step outside of comfort zones. “If we're going to accomplish bigger and better things, we're going to have to find creative ways that don't involve just going to the State Capitol and just getting state dollars,” says Schulz. That has most immediately meant fundraising private dollars, which has been a focus for Schulz. Relying on private funding is a new approach for some. “Many of our new programs and facilities on campus are being funded with philanthropic gifts to the institution, which means that we have to be working very closely with donors to secure needed monies,” he says. “There are still many people who feel that these initiatives should be funded with state funds.” But the trend toward private funding is a national one, and Schulz has devoted a considerable amount of his energy to raising money, energizing donors to buy into Kansas State’s vision for its future. Donations have increased dramatically, and he credits the 2025 plan as part of the reason. “People give money for a variety of things, but if someone is going to give you 10 million dollars, they're going to want to see you're going somewhere, that you're going to try and aspire to something great.” Schulz uses social media and a monthly letter to the staff and faculty to make sure everyone knows what he is doing to advance the plan. “I've been involved in the process all the way from the beginning,” Schulz says. “I'm invested in the plan like anyone else.”

His role as president is just one part of the puzzle, though. “I believe part of the transformation we’re seeing, where the campus is getting excited and we’re seeing these increased dollar figures and increased students, is because everybody on campus has that little bit of a feeling that ‘hey I participated in setting this up,’” he says. “I think that’s absolutely critical to our success.” He says you’d be hard pressed to find anyone on campus who can’t tell you the goal of 2025.

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biggest single issue,” Schulz says. “We have talented people at K-State, and many of them could easily go somewhere else to work — so how we keep our best and brightest faculty and staff is also a challenge in a tight fiscal environment.”

Nonetheless, he knows some people are taking a wait-and-see attitude. “I believe it’s an evolutionary process,” he says. “I think we have more people invested in it now than we did two years ago, but it would be disingenuous of me to say, ‘Oh yeah, everybody’s equally invested.’” Although people may acknowledge a need for something different, it’s still difficult. “Most of campus certainly knows that we need to change, but there is always some uncertainty in everyone about what that change will mean for them personally,” he says.

Kansas State will spend $150-175 million on academic infrastructure in the next three years. Most of that money will be privately funded and a result of the planning process. He envisions that in 2025, Kansas State will, “be a better national brand.” The physical footprint of the university will look different with updated buildings and improvements while maintaining the current feel. He expects more masters’ and doctoral students, more geographic and ethnic diversity, more international flavor and more faculty members from outside the United States.

Balancing the needs of everyone in a large institution is complex. “You have to manage the change in a way that takes the people who are brand new and gets them inspired to say ‘hey lets go out there and do great things,’ and the people who have invested their careers in an institution to say, ‘hey I think this is really a good step’ as well,” he says. “It’s a continual process.”

Schulz wants to hold to purpose by having every decision be filtered through the concept of the 2025 plan, and that begins in his office. Schulz hopes that the lofty vision expressed in the plan will excite people in the university community around heading toward new frontiers.

Schulz knows change is not without risk and is cautious about not losing the intangibles that create a sense of belonging throughout the Kansas State community. He doesn’t want to get to 2025 and be ranked in the Top 50 but have people say Kansas State has lost its way.

“We’re trying to inspire people with the 2025 plan,” Schulz says. “Inspired people do more and achieve more.”

One of his biggest concerns is keeping faculty and staff on board, especially when some haven’t had raises in five years. “Morale of our employees is the

SCHULZ’S VIEWS ON LEADERSHIP

Involve everyone and take your time: When people are part of developing something from the ground up, “they’re going to go out there and personally make it happen and I think that’s absolutely critical to our success.”

Stick with it: “You’ve got to keep people engaged and involved in the process, the successes, where we’re going, all those things, so that’s a significant challenge. It’s not like you check off a box and say we’re done the planning and now we can move on to something else. It’s a continual process.”

Encourage leadership in others: “I want to bring in good people and truly allow them the freedom and flexibility to do their assigned jobs,” Schulz says. “That's one of the key things any leader needs to do.”

Create a system that allows for new ideas: “We need to make sure ideas are percolated through the system so that if we choose not to do something, it's because we made a deliberate decision not to do it, not because we have such a convoluted set of processes it never got to our attention.”

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By Brian Whepley

C R E AT I N G B E T T E R F U T U R E S Driven to b ol ster s tu dents an d rural are as , ad min is trator shin es s po tlight o n c o mm unity c ol l ege s

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“ W E H AV E T O D E C I D E W H AT ’ S I M P O R T A N T T O U S C O L L E C T I V E L Y. I S H AV I N G A N E D U C AT E D P O P U L A C E WORTH THE INVESTMENT?” Herbert Swender , Garden City Community College

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n Herbert Swender’s family, higher education began at community college. The Garden City Community College president’s mother, after having four kids, went to Neosho Community College, became an X-ray technician, went on to earn bachelor’s and master’s degrees, taught at the college and earned her doctorate. “I took English comp from my mom at Neosho CC,” said Swender, whose father, siblings and two children are community college grads.

He has spent three decades teaching at and administering community colleges: Allen County and Independence in Kansas, Frank Phillips College in Texas and Garden City starting in 2011. Several things drew him to and made him stick with community colleges.

“It’s too easy to ‘cream,’ where you take the best and forget the rest,” he said. “At the community college, the past is prologue; what you want to do in the future is what matters.” Getting that message across can be challenging, as decision-makers sometimes lack the context and background to hear it. Some in leadership positions in education or government, he said, haven’t seen just how much difference an associate’s degree or nurse’s assistant or mechanic’s training can make in a life. And that can make conversations about community colleges’ value difficult. One of Swender’s charges when taking over was to be a visible and active advocate for GCCC and community colleges. He’s done that locally, partnering in economic development and forming a strong relationship with the Garden City public schools, especially as they implement a state law encouraging students to obtain technical and career training at community colleges. He’s done that on the state level, traveling to Topeka to meet with senators and representatives, the commerce secretary, agriculture officials and others who can affect community colleges. And he’s taken the rural education message to national conferences and to Washington.

One is the more immediate impact education and a person – an instructor, a financial aid counselor, even a college president – can have on a student. Another is the vital role he believes the colleges play in the health of communities like Garden City and states like Kansas – the rural environment he grew up in and values. “The American community college is such a portal for society and for communities. I challenge you to find one community that’s thriving that doesn’t have access to education, and likely a community college,” Swender said.

“It’s about fairness, and that’s the message I’ve shared with White House policymakers,” he said. “Our nation cannot survive without a successful rural economy.”

Access means not only geographic distance but affordability, degree programs, workforce training and opportunities.

An initiative that raised GCCC’s profile – and caught Washington’s attention – came early last year when the college spearheaded a study of Pell Grants that defined the extent – and stakes – of the grants to rural America. The program grew tremendously in recent years, and funding has been debated. A study of 17 Kansas community colleges by the college and researchers at the University of Alabama’s Education Policy Center found the grants are now a major source of assistance in rural education, particularly for women. Grants supported nearly half the credits Kansas community college students earned. The number of women receiving grants grew 70 percent between 2008 and 2010.

“Universities have selective admissions and can set the ACT bar at 23,” says Swender, his voice resonating as he digs into a topic he cares deeply about. Measures and tests can be barriers. “Well, we have a lot of 13s walking the halls, but we also have high school valedictorians. What we provide that 13, though, is an opportunity to make a difference, to move from tax-taker to taxpayer. The single mom, age 31, with two kids ...”

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SWENDER’S VIEWS ON LEADERSHIP

Different roles, different views: “You have access to a lot more information, and you must realize that people don’t have to access that information.”

Know the problem: “If you can’t articulate the opposing view, then you don’t understand the conflict.”

Getting moving: “Everyone is motivated. You just have to find out what motivates people.”

At GCCC, about half of its 3,000 students receive workforce training, for nursing, firefighting, law enforcement and other trades. The rest are on the credit-transfer track, many prepping to complete degrees elsewhere. CNN Money ranked GCCC 24th in the nation, among 786 community colleges, for student success.

During Swender’s tenure, GCCC has substantially reorganized its administrative structure, which isn’t easy for all involved. Learning about the people he leads helps him lead, because “it’s harder to be critical of someone when you know them.” By that he doesn’t mean change won’t occur but that it occurs with collegiality and understanding. “The greatest challenges come on the people side, motivating, guiding and retaining the good ones,” he acknowledged, and it’s the challenge most likely to cost him sleep at night.

“The direction for this college is we’re going to expand our workforce programs,” Swender said. In today’s economy, the trend is jobs come where the trained people are, instead of people moving to the jobs, he said. And that’s means a trained workforce can attract economic development and sustain rural communities like Garden City.

Swender sees educational resources as a question of values as much as money. “We have to decide what’s important to us collectively. Is having an educated populace worth the investment?” he said. “Rural is becoming more rural, and it’s putting states at risk of losing their vitality and ability to compete. Living in a rural area shouldn’t preclude you from having access to a high-quality contemporary education.”

The college recently started an oil technology program to meet oilfield needs, its first wholly new program in 17 years. New programs are challenging, because there’s not much “venture capital to work with,” but community colleges have agility on their side. “We can change a curriculum, we can enhance and modify and respond to the needs immediately,” he said. “You need more welders for horizontal pipe welding; we can gin it up.”

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By Laura Roddy

EMPOWERING OTHERS: WSU pre side nt steps back to hel p univer sity m ake b ig ste ps f orward

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“ I T ’ S A N E M P O W E R M E N T O F A C O N V E R S AT I O N O F C O R E Q U E S T I O N S , W H O A R E W E ? W H AT D O W E C A R E A B O U T ? W H AT A R E W E T R Y I N G T O A C C O M P L I S H ? ” John Bardo , Wichita State University

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hen Wichita State University President John Bardo assumed his post last summer, he came armed with five goals and a desire for the university community to think strategically about its future.

“It took a whole lot of effort,” Bardo says. “I’m naturally a control guy.” However, as in any reasonably complex organization, he says, he alone has “the same power as the sound of one hand clapping. What we are really trying to do is engage the best minds.”

To transform Wichita State into a world-class university, though, the leadership can’t come from the president alone. In Bardo’s view, it is about identifying shared common interests and moving forward together.

“I don’t see leadership as being an individual behavior,” Bardo says. “As president, I provide a vision that helps people see what is possible.” He also says his role is to bring resources to the table. Bardo recently launched the strategic planning process with the creation of a steering committee. Because the effort is just beginning, Bardo, who is taking a hands-off approach, doesn’t know exactly where the process will lead.

He has found that when an authority figure directs people, they will do what they need to do and no more. When he gives the work back to them, he is giving people permission to do what they feel they should be doing. “My power actually increases dramatically when I do this,” he says. “The more power I give away, the more I get back.” Bardo has articulated his own vision for the university. He has identified five areas of improvement to help Wichita State reach the next echelon of excellence: increase quality, increase enrollment, expand the university’s research capacity, achieve technology transfer to the surrounding community and improve the quality of student life.

“It’s an empowerment of a conversation of core questions,” he says. “Who are we? What do we care about? And what are we trying to accomplish?” Bardo is relying on the steering committee, which is made up of Wichita State professors, staff and students, as well as business and community leaders, to answer those questions. He wants these stakeholders to set the tone and direction for the university in the coming years.

As Bardo sets his sights on achieving these goals, he acknowledges the competing factors that Wichita State, like other universities in Kansas and beyond, is up against. “The challenges are not unique for Kansas,” he says. Funding is a continual concern. “We are very labor intensive,” Bardo says. It is a continual struggle for all institutions of higher learning to find effective ways to control costs while increasing quality.

Bardo acknowledges that there are risks the Wichita State community must deal with as it endeavors to become world class. It can be difficult to motivate a community to change or try something new when the status quo is not inherently flawed, as he views the case with Wichita State.

Another challenge in higher education is increasing the number of people who are successful in society. Following up with dropouts is important, but Bardo also stressed that K-12 education is a critical factor in the success of university graduates.

“There’s also going to be a level of discomfort [with change] when an institution has been stable,” Bardo says.

Regulation is also perennial challenge for higher education. Bardo anticipates the federal government continuing to want to regulate higher education through reliance on accreditation.

Bardo has previously led a university – Western Carolina – through the strategic planning process and is eager to see what the result will be at Wichita State, where he started his career as a sociology professor in the 1970s and met his wife. Although it helps to have that success under his belt and assurance that the process works, it is a style of leadership that didn’t come naturally to Bardo.

Moreover, he says, the public is losing sight of the importance of the connection among the various components of the traditional university: teaching, research and engaged work in the community. The marketplace is peeling off some of the more lucrative teaching elements.

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“We’re in danger as a country of losing innovation by separating out components,” he says.

BARDO’S FIVE GOALS FOR WSU

Bardo says in many ways, the Kansas Board of Regents offers advantages that other systems he has experienced do not. Kansas universities are not as centralized, and as a result, Wichita State has more flexibility. Still, he acknowledges, “We’re not as nimble as we could be over time.”

Continue to press on quality: When resources are tight, this is particularly difficult.

Enrollment growth:

As Bardo looks to Wichita State’s future, he stresses the importance of team judgments and decisions. He has specific ideas about the culture of leadership that he seeks to cultivate. For example, the group that reports to him is now called the executive team rather than the administrative staff, a conscious change.

Wichita State is too small and needs to grow. Although enrollment has been stable for the last 10 years or so, it is several thousand below the enrollment of 17,400 that Wichita State saw 30 years ago. One key that Bardo sees for helping increase enrollment is the construction of the university’s first new residence hall since 1964, which will help him recruit out of state.

Since assuming the president’s post, Bardo has led the team on three half-day retreats, which provide an opportunity for them to sit down and talk through real issues – sometimes getting angry with one another. “It is a very different approach,” he says. “It causes a change of thought process. It isn’t just the president’s office that has to change.”

Continuing to expand research capacity: Wichita State University spends $50 million a year on research and development. “We should be able to double that over time,” Bardo says.

On a scale of 1 to 10, Bardo says, his team is at a four or five at implementation. “We will get to a nine or 10,” he says.

Technology transfer Bardo says this concept is about taking the intellectual property of the university and consciously getting it out to the surrounding community and to the world.

Bardo also is a strong believer in selecting the right people for a task and then letting them own the process. An example is the team selecting the developer for the university’s first new residence hall in nearly 50 years. Although Bardo does have veto authority, he left it to the team to select the developer for the project. A strong consensus emerged among the members.

Quality of student life: Having a relationship with the university is key. For traditional students, Bardo says, this is a time of life where what happens outside class is as important as what happens inside class when it comes to personal development. At Wichita State, about 8 percent of the student body lives on campus. At similar universities, 15 to 30 percent of students live on campus. That is one reason why the new residence hall and accompanying dining hall are so important, Bardo says.

“They own this process,” he says. “I’m not doing it. I’m not even meeting regularly with the committee.” For Bardo, leadership is about getting the best people in place to make needed decisions. “In the end, we’re all going to go a direction,” Bardo says. In his analogy, various stakeholders in the university community may be going different speeds – some in a car, some by canoe, some walking. What is important to him is that they are all on the same path with united goals, which he is confident will emerge through the creation of a strategic plan. “The big thing to me is this is a place that’s worth it,” Bardo says.

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By Erin Perry O’Donnell

MOLDING THE E N T R E P R E N E U R I A L S T U D E N T: Young pr e sid e nt s pur s e ffo rt to fu s e s tart-u p s pir it with co l le ge’ s cor e l iber al arts m iss io n

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“ I T H O U G H T, ‘HOW DO WE GIVE L I B E RA L A R T S VA L U E ? ’ WE’RE GOING TO LIFT IT UP THROUGH THE ENTREPRENEURIAL M I N D S E T, B E C A U S E WE WANT OUR G RA D UAT E S T O BE ENTERPRISING AND PERCEPTIVE.” Michael Schneider , McPherson College

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hen you’re one of at least 18 small, private colleges in Kansas, it’s not easy to stand out from the pack. Michael Schneider took over as president of McPherson College in 2009 and thought it was time to reinvigorate the school for the 21st century.

Schneider reached across traditional academic boundaries to accomplish his vision: to infuse the school’s liberal arts curriculum with an entrepreneurial mindset, born from his own experience with startup businesses. “One of the core values of liberal arts and of entrepreneurship is idea exploration, and 18-year-old students have ideas,” Schneider says. “College is the sweet spot, an incredible opportunity to go away and try things and, in some ways, fail. But you have a great support system, especially at a smaller college.” The concept seemed alien to the longtime liberal arts faculty. Was the institution becoming a business school? Cultivating capitalists? No, Schneider says. Although liberal arts seem to have been devalued in an economy so focused on literal job skills, he believed in it more than ever for its ability to teach students how to be resourceful, flexible and creative. “I think what’s at your core, your true identity, is not something you want to change,” he says. “I thought, ‘How do we give liberal arts value?’ We’re going to lift it up through the entrepreneurial mindset, because we want our graduates to be enterprising and perceptive.”

theirs, and what they valued about the school. They answered: our size. Our sense of community. A tradition of service. After he’d listened, he started talking about his idea – and listened some more to their reactions. “I told the faculty if they weren’t interested in it, I wasn’t going to pursue it.” Schneider reached out to the Kauffman Foundation in Kansas City, which supports efforts to merge education and entrepreneurship. Foundation officials visited campus to guide them in the process. Schneider shared with them the faculty’s own profile of what their ideal graduate should look like. Among other traits, it calls for students to think critically, assess value conflicts, and integrate knowledge and experience. Kauffman representatives told Schneider, “That looks a heck of a lot like an entrepreneur.” Schneider worked hard to give the faculty a sense of ownership in the venture, like asking them to write their own definition of entrepreneurship across the curriculum. After several months of brainstorming and discussions, they were ready to act. They developed a program for a minor in entrepreneurship in just three months. A year later, the program graduated its first student. Building the trust that allowed that to happen was a methodical, daily effort. A key factor was transparency, Schneider says. He was open about disappointments, such as the college’s failure to land a Kauffman Foundation grant, despite their close working relationship. He addressed setbacks publicly in meetings. And he tried to be generous with others when they made mistakes.

Schneider, himself a 1996 McPherson alumnus, returned to campus as an administrator in 2002, and brought a startup spirit with him. With just over 600 students, Schneider says, McPherson is nimble enough to navigate new ideas. But first he had to persuade the 50-member faculty to follow his lead – no small feat for a person who, at age 36, was one of the youngest college presidents in the country.

“What I have been known to do is take that big, fat elephant in the room and put it on the table: ‘I know this is what you’re thinking, but here it is. Let’s get that out of the way.’ Then people open up.” In 2010, McPherson College created its Horizon Fund, which gives students micro-grants of up to $500 to launch business ideas. Students jumped at the opportunity, making 72 proposals in the first two years. Their startup ideas ranged from new mobile technology to community service projects, along

He started in the first months of his presidency by meeting with every faculty and staff member. He knew what his passion was. So he asked about

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SCHNEIDER’S IDEAS FOR MAKING C H A N G E I N A N O R GA N I Z AT I O N

Listen, then talk: Find out what your people value about your organization. Pay attention to what they think is essential to your mission, and appeal to that.

Find ways to give everyone ownership: Give them opportunities to put their personal vision for the organization into their own words. Have them write what they hear you saying when you’re asking for a change.

Know your identity: Schneider says, “If you’re not crystal clear on your identity, you’re in trouble.” Identity is more than a mission statement, and it should remain constant no matter what other changes you make. Protect it.

Own your mistakes: Schneider works hard to be transparent and never leave room for the impression that he’s hiding problems or setbacks. Confront challenges immediately and publicly, and acknowledge failures so you can learn from them.

with several automotive-based concepts from students majoring in McPherson’s unique auto restoration program.

with several other Kansas institutions to help transfer and graduate students make transitions. At McPherson, Schneider says that, ultimately, his faculty and staff quickly matched his enthusiasm for entrepreneurship. Now, if they argue, it’s over the details, not the direction of the program. Personally, Schneider is drawing attention, too. This spring, he’ll be a visiting lecturer on leadership at Rutgers University, which only helps to raise his school’s profile further.

Word is getting around. Two years later, prospective student inquiries are up 20 percent. Half of seniors have jobs in their fields before graduation – about twice the national rate – and within six months of graduation, that number climbs to 90 percent. The school also received a $1.2 million gift that allowed it to hire an executive director of entrepreneurship and develop new programs. It’s not the only small Kansas college that’s finding success by crossing the typical academic boundaries. The interdisciplinary Newman Studies program at Newman University in Wichita is bringing instructors together from different fields to team-teach and show students how ideas are connected, President Noreen Carrocci says. Newman also has partnerships

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“When you can be a model, it’s inspiring, and it inspires your own people,” he says.

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By Brian Whepley

BUILDING

BRIDGES De an s trive s s tr e ng then tie s betwe e n bu sine ss s cho ol an d Kansas c o m pan ie s

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“ T H E H I G H E R U P Y O U G O , T H E L E S S OX Y G E N T H E R E I S . T O S TA Y G R O U N D E D , Y O U N E E D T O S E E P E O P L E O N T H E FRONT LINES AND TRUST THE PEOPLE THERE.” Neeli Bendapudi , University of Kansas

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s a researcher, Neeli Bendapudi is intrigued by companies that deliver products or services that keep customers coming back time after time.

Bendapudi, dean of the University of Kansas School of Business, put a loyalty-inducing Midwest institution – QuikTrip convenience stores – under the microscope in research reported in 2005. Since becoming dean in 2011, she’s emphasized a customer-service focus for her alma mater’s business school. The approach is multipronged: Stress real-world skills. Ensure that students and faculty work with businesses and organizations across Kansas, and then bring that knowledge to class. Be a school that shares its expertise with Kansans. As a professor of marketing, Bendapudi has studied motivation and its role in moving people and institutions forward. The more closely you can tie goals – and help people see the link – into what drives a person, the more readily you’ll achieve buy-in, she says. To keep the goals front and center, she stresses, in conversations with faculty and students, “why the business school’s interests must be aligned with the interests of Kansas.” So, if a professor is interested in research but funding is short, then it just makes sense to maximize KU’s resources by collaborating with other departments and outside partners. For example, she said, a large international company is talking with KU’s business, engineering, liberal arts and computer science programs to “leverage resources across the university.” When interdepartmental barriers – “silos” – fall, the company attains a one-stop shop to meet its needs while faculty and schools meet theirs: resources for research. Making the school “a better place to work” is a theme that arises often with Bendapudi, as does the result that it will be a better place to learn. The school is more than halfway to raising $60 million for a new home, so it can move from cramped, aging Summerfield Hall. The money is coming from private donors and that provides Bendapudi an opportunity to link goals (reaching out to Kansas’ business community) to results (a new building that accommodates growing enrollment) and to things that can motivate faculty and staff (better offices, classrooms and facilities to teach and research).

Other motivating factors involve a personal approach, such as turning the conversation around and asking professors and staff how they would answer the question of whether they would “send their children to study with someone who has never worked in business or met a payroll?” “It’s a lot of leadership by influence rather than by authority,” she says. “We have tenure, so you really have to have buy-in. You must use a lot of collaboration and influence building.” A key ingredient is following through on the passion and energy she exhibits. “Accountability is very big to me. The quickest way to lose respect is to push people to do things you wouldn’t do yourself,” says Bendapudi, who has done the real-world work she urges faculty to embrace, including consulting with Cessna, Yellow Roadways (now YRC Freight) and others and serving as executive vice president and chief customer officer of Ohio’s Huntington National Bank in 2007 and 2008. The business school is not alone at KU in efforts to become the place Kansans turn to for expertise. KU’s intent, outlined in 2011’s Bold Aspirations strategic plan, is to be a world-class research institution while addressing issues vital to Kansas and its competitiveness. The School of Engineering, responding to an engineer shortage, expanded freshman enrollment 22 percent this past fall and is expanding facilities and faculty. The KU Medical Center concluded a decades-long campaign by receiving the National Cancer Institute designation in 2012. It recognizes the investment of millions in research and facilities and Kansans’ accessibility to cutting-edge treatments, while adding an estimated $453 million and 1,123 jobs since 2006. To highlight its reach into communities, the university launched the KU Works website (kuworks.ku.edu) several years ago. At the business school, programs send students and resources into the state to share and build expertise. One, RedTire, matches qualified candidates with rural business owners who want to retire but can’t find successors. Another, the Kansas Impact Project (KIP), pairs teams of MBA students with a mentor and puts the students’ energies to bear on an organization’s problem, such as recruiting nurses to a long-term care center in Ashland.

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As the school tries to increase its impact on Kansas and the state’s businesses, it faces the same hurdles as much of the higher education system.

Other recent KIP projects included ones to overcome patient “no-shows” at a Douglas County mental health program and studying the feasibility of a northeast Kansas “food hub” for small-scale agricultural producers.

“The financial challenges are pretty significant, with the cuts and the rising cost of tuition,” Bendapudi says. “Specific to Kansas is how do we create a system that creates opportunities that keep our young people here.”

Each fall, students start work on the project before classes begin. Illustrating the KIP emphasis, they had to answer an admissions essay on “what’s an important issue in Kansas and how would you address that?”

A native of India, Bendapudi’s KU connections rival those of many Kansans. The ties began with her father, whose family stayed behind while he ventured to Kansas to study. Pictures of the “mystical” Jayhawk impressed his 5-year-old daughter, and she went to Lawrence for her doctorate, earning it in 1994. Her husband, Venkat, and sisters are KU grads. Before feeling the tug of KU, Bendapudi taught at Ohio State University for 15 years.

“A really important aspect of leadership is for them to give back to the community,” says Catherine Shenoy, director of KU’s MBA program. “They learn how to work together and accomplish a task using each other’s skills and communicating with an organization. Some of them may not have worked in such an intense environment to accomplish a goal in a short period of time. Maybe next time they will be the person who will initiate something, because they have the confidence. The belief that they can carry out a project is important in their leadership development.”

Guiding her is a belief in education’s transformative powers – it, after all, brought her family to Kansas and provided a new home, careers and U.S. citizenship. Fueling her is what brought her into education in the first place: “People who come into academia want to do something for the next generation. They have a sense of purpose.”

Having all faculty spend time with Kansas businesses to gain insights that better prepare students for careers is another goal Bendapudi has. “It’s not about going in and saying, ‘I have the answers,’” she says. Getting the word out that KU’s business school and faculty are willing to help is one of the bigger challenges. That’s why she accepts opportunities to make KU’s pitch, she said, such as emceeing the Kansas Chamber of Commerce’s annual dinner in early February.

And then there’s the gratitude generated by a plan successfully executed, those times “when business people come in and say, ‘Thank you, we have betterprepared students.’”

“We are not going to be a successful business school unless people in Kansas can bring their business problems to us,” Bendapudi says.

BENDAPUDI’S VIEWS ON LEADERSHIP

Visible passion: “Education is intensely personal, and a student can tell if a teacher is truly engaged or just going through the motions.”

Trust: “The higher up you go, the less oxygen there is. To stay grounded, you need to see people on the front lines and trust the people there.”

Grasping challenges: “‘A crisis is a terrible thing to waste.’ I really love that quote.”

Looking inward: “Here, faculty want to collaborate. Am I giving them technology, time and resources to do it?”

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TAKING THE TIME TO ALIGN YOUR CHOICES WITH YOUR PURPOSE, EVEN AMIDST LIFE’S FRENETIC PACE, CAN BRING REWARDS

It’s a Saturday morning and I’m gazing out the 10th-floor window of my dear friends’ south Boston apartment. The icy blue harbor is backdrop for the urban to-and-fro. I’m on a short vacation. The perfect place and time to take a reflective, bird’s-eye view of my life back in Kansas. I’ve slept well, spent 45 minutes at the gym, had a good breakfast and I’m on to my second cup of coffee. I’m looking out the window feeling like anything is possible in this complex and beautiful world. So if you asked me this morning, “Hey, Julia, what’s your life purpose?” I’d happily reply, “To bring my full, wacky self to every relationship and every effort that has even the slightest chance of making the world a better place. I want to use my talents to help people connect and get things done.” In the quiet of this morning I think about the about the ways in which I’m doing a good job of living that purpose. And I acknowledge a few areas in which I need to do a better job of walking the talk. As you may or may not have guessed, this is a highly unusual morning. I don’t typically have the luxury of extended time on the balcony. Like you, most mornings, I jump out of bed and just start dancing. The alarm rings, and I get my son up for breakfast. I do my job and celebrate being on time for the third meeting of the day. I join an email chain about Saturday’s community workday. I call a friend on my way home from work, remind myself to stay grateful for my husband’s love and creativity, and save time at the end of the day to read “Green Eggs and Ham” and “Babar Comes to America”. Most days, if I reflect on purpose at all, it’s a quick check in to notice whether what I’m doing is making me feel more or less alive. At KLC we recognize that making choices based on a sense of personal purpose is an important part of taking care of ourselves. Take care of yourself is a key leadership behavior, part of the KLC competency Manage Self. We know that if we are going to

successfully shift the culture of civic life in Kansas, we each must consciously take care of ourselves. We have to maintain energy for the long haul of community leadership. That’s why KLC has introduced a new retreat, for alumni only, called Taking Care of Yourself: Aligning Purpose and Practice. The two-day retreat is a chance to get away from your daily life, to reflect, and to articulate or reconnect to your sense of purpose. Retreats are offered every two months. Please visit http://www.kansasleadershipcenter.org/takecare for more information. But whether or not you attend the retreat, you can consciously take better care of yourself by paying more attention to the alignment between your purpose and actions. Try this simple daily routine. Take a few minutes, each morning, to jot down you answers to the following questions: • What do I want others to experience when I walk into a room? • If I could snap my fingers and make more of something in the world, what would it be? • What do I value most? After a day or two of taking notes on those questions, try adding this one: • How will I create that experience, make more of that something or embody that value today? As you make a daily practice of those for four questions, notice what starts happening to your energy. My bet is you start to feel more powerful, more alive. You will still face leadership challenges, and you will still struggle to address those challenges in the brief hours between alarm clock and bedtime story. But with a strong sense of personal purpose, you will have the fuel you need to do it all. Julia Fabris McBride is the Director of Faculty & Coach Development at the Kansas Leadership Center. 63.

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TO PE KA COMMUNITY PROFILE

The Start of Change: Building a better Capital City requires leadership over the long haul By Sarah Caldwell Hancock

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Construction work is nearing a close on a massive 12-year renovation of the State Capitol building, as seen enveloped in a web of scaffolding from behind the Assumption Catholic Church, Mater Dei Parish. Much like the Statehouse it houses, Topeka also remains a work in progress. Despite recent successes wooing a Mars North America plant and seeing the growth of an arts district in North Topeka, the city continues to face problems with a number of issues, including crumbling infrastructure, crime and deteriorating neighborhoods.

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A patron dines inside Bobo’s Drive-in on southwest 10th avenue in Topeka, a popular eatery that has been in business at the location since 1953. The burger joint’s profile has been high in recent years and it has been featured on the Food Network’s “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives”and was the one of the Kansas Sampler Foundation’s “8 Wonders of Kansas Cuisine.” 57.

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COMMUNITY PROFILE: TOPEKA

The aftermath of disasters, from Superstorm Sandy to the Greensburg tornado to Hurricane Katrina, often bring with them stories of collaborations and extraordinary personal efforts that help people meet their immediate needs and fill the future with hope. But what’s the impetus for civic leadership and change when there is no precipitating event or disaster to which we can attach a name? This has been the situation in Topeka, the state’s Capital City and home to nearly 130,000 people alongside the I-70 corridor in northeast Kansas, for much of the past decade. “We have a pretty good life here in Topeka,” explains Jim Ogle, general manager of WIBW television. Although Topeka has suffered its share of past difficulties such as a 1966 tornado and the departure of the world-renowned Menninger Clinic in 2003, Ogle says: “We didn’t have the kind of disaster that forces people to hunker down. We had no force-you-together event.” That hasn’t stopped Topekans from working together to make their community stronger. It’s a good thing, too, because Topeka’s issues, although not unusual, are notable and maybe even notorious. Topeka has its share of typical inner-city problems such as crumbling infrastructure, crime, too many neighborhoods containing too many decaying houses and poverty. Combined with a limping downtown, constant pressure to deliver job growth, sprawling geography and a historic “pay your dues” mentality when it comes to who gets involved in civic leadership positions, these factors coalesced into an attitude characterized by Ogle as “Well, it’s just Topeka.” Yet that’s far from the complete picture here. New partnerships are arising. Progress is happening. Success is being celebrated. Attitudes are changing. Visions are being developed, and those visions are leading to plans, and those plans are being executed. As Martha Bartlett Piland, owner of MB Piland Advertising + Marketing in Topeka, says, “The time is right. The players are at the table, and the table has room for more people to come sit at it.”

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William Trier, 8, studies painted scenes of Topeka at the Yeldarb Gallery in North Topeka’s NOTO Arts District. The development of galleries and antique stores, fostered by both public planning, infrastructure improvements and private investment, in the area has brought new life into section of town once dimmed by floods, neglect and crime. On some nights during a First Friday Artwalk, up to 2,000 people can be seen strolling down the street of the district.

Key Successes: ‘Something to be proud of’ Topeka’s recent successes include, most notably, a commitment from Mars North America to build and open a new plant here in 2013. Another example is the North Topeka (NOTO) Arts District. Situated in a formerly downtrodden but historic area across the Kansas River from the rest of downtown, NOTO is now home to galleries, studios, the NOTO Arts Center with classes for all ages and a huge number of visitors during the citywide ARTSConnect First Friday Artwalk. Ruby and Chuck Bradley, owners of Yeldarb Gallery, say up to 2,000 people have strolled down their street during the event. Sarah Fizell, executive director of ARTSConnect, says the arts contribute much more to a community than attracting out-of-town visitors who purchase gas and restaurant meals. “Most importantly, it’s a facet of our community that is something to be proud of,” she says. Friday Artwalks take people all over Topeka, not just to NOTO, and help them find what’s there. 68.

Anita Wolgast and John Hunter, volunteer co-directors of the NOTO board, understand that working in the arts leads to other areas of involvement. Although NOTO has a jury that evaluates artists before they qualify for subsidized studio or gallery space, the area’s success is not just about appreciating art. “We’re talking about an economic development plan,” Hunter says. Core NOTO artists must create a business plan in collaboration with the Washburn Small Business Development Center before qualifying for up to $7,000 to renovate space and up to two years of subsidized rent. The NOTO Arts District has formed partnerships with the Community Resources Council, Washburn University, Washburn Institute of Technology, Topeka Public Schools USD 501, the Topeka Rescue Mission and many others to help 24 new businesses open in the last two and a half years and to renovate buildings and fill classes. Although public funds were used for infrastructure improvements to the area more than 10 years ago, arts district funding has flowed from businesses,

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individuals and grants from private foundations. The results are striking. NOTO was once a derogatory term, but “new businesses are now spawning new employees and tax dollars and the city is increasing the property tax value of the buildings,” which ultimately will lead to new discussions about sustainability of the arts community, Hunter says.

Spirit of Collaboration The development of NOTO is just one area where Topeka has seen the benefit of increased collaboration. After deliberating for more than 20 years, city and county officials recently consolidated their Parks and Recreation offerings. The consolidated department is in its first full year. “We had shared leadership in how we approached that,” says Shawnee County Commissioner Shelly Buhler, noting that she worked closely with Bob Archer (now a fellow county commissioner) who was then

on the Topeka City Council. Relationships between city and county officials in Topeka have a troubled history, but they are in the process of leaving that behind. “We had some bumps, but we have a five-year strategic plan. We’re continuing to invest in quality of life.” Collaboration breeds collaboration. For example, Gina Millsap, CEO of the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library, explains a plan for the library to provide and manage computers in six community centers around Topeka. The county approached Millsap because the library had experience managing public computers. “I said I’d like to talk about doing more than that — improving technology available to neighborhoods and families in those areas. I want to talk about how we program together. We’re in the beginning stages. We’re looking at literacy programs, homework coaches and trainers to help people develop résumés and search for jobs and learn technology skills.”

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THINGS EVERY KANSAN

— and Kansas Community —

CAN LEARN FROM TOPEKA

Form a backbone organization.

Explore a vision.

Listen broadly.

Engaging a facilitator to help develop a vision can help everyone learn about the community, so those working toward change begin from a more shared understanding.

Find out what community members think. Real listening is vital. Pay special attention to unusual voices such as young professionals or other groups who may have less authority in your community.

Engage naysayers.

Work with what you already have.

Collaboration breeds collaboration.

Use organizations that are already in place and encourage them to collaborate and build coalitions.

True collaboration should be energizing and inspiring, so when members of the community experience it, they’ll want more.

There’s no silver bullet, but there’s silver buckshot.

Expect incremental gains.

People resist the loss from change, but opening communication with critics by listening to them, explaining community needs and learning from them can reduce polarization.

Celebrate success & review progress. Follow up your vision with celebrations when good things happen and periodic check-ins with stakeholders for truthful evaluations of progress.

It may take several approaches and solutions to address complex challenges. Setbacks and even periodic failures are likely.

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Volunteers grow weary, people move away, or resources dwindle. A backbone organization with a dedicated staff person (even a part-time worker) can help keep people and organizations on track to execute complicated projects

Progress on daunting projects tends to come one step at a time.

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COMMUNITY PROFILE: TOPEKA

Targets for Impovement Another example of a cooperative initiative in Topeka is Heartland Healthy Neighborhoods, an organization that grew out of collaboration between Nancy Johnson, director of the Community Resources Council; K-State Research and Extension; the YMCA/YWCA; and the Topeka Rescue Mission. Johnson says the group worked from two premises: doing projects and forging real change through policy. After earning a grant to build a coalition, the group focused on forming a Complete Streets program. “Complete Streets” have wide sidewalks for pedestrians; accommodate public transportation, biking and other forms of transport besides cars; and have ADA-compliant crossing signals and other features. The process wasn’t simple. “We had a lot of naysayers because of the cost and extra work and because it was a change,” Johnson says. Heartland Healthy Neighborhoods has established a checklist with city engineers. A local half-cent sales tax used for road improvement can’t be used for new sidewalks and other amenities, Johnson says, but when the city has to replace a sidewalk, it can make it wide enough to be multipurpose. Heartland Healthy Neighborhoods’ efforts on behalf of Complete Streets led to a natural collaboration with local cycling advocates like Karl Fundenberger of the Topeka Community Cycle Project and an effort to raise funds and obtain a matching grant to perform a comprehensive analysis and master plan for bikeways.

The Most Daunting Project in Topeka

just the stuff above the ground.” But segments of the community, both in the public and private sectors, were willing to take up the matter and push for revitalization by renewing physical infrastructure. “Obviously there’s not enough money available from the government to do everything,” Frye says. “We worked closely with the city and got the private sector involved. Because of that partnership, we will see new energy and development downtown.” Frye notes that the road to progress is long. “People like to see things happen quickly, and things never seem to happen quick enough,” he says. In addition, citizens disagree about how to prioritize the community’s needs. Communication is vital, Frye says, noting that he has had the experience of turning naysayers into supporters just by explaining the situation. Frye adds that infrastructure investment in NOTO set the tone for the downtown area. “You can look back on that investment and realize there was a plan and that plan took many years to come to the point that we have it now, but without that investment, I hate to think of what North Topeka might be today,” he says. “Someone had the vision and made the investment. Years later, we’re seeing the fruits, and I know for a fact that there are investors waiting in the wings to do some significant things in downtown Topeka, just making sure the city was willing to make its investment to make Topeka a place where they could bring the business and retail and living facilities we all want downtown.”

Drivers of Success: New Vision, New Voices

Bigger projects represent more daunting challenges and call for more intensive engagement. A recent city council vote to dedicate $5 million to downtown infrastructure improvement is bolstered by citizen support, but it’s not a simple fix.

Bringing tangible change has required intangible changes in leadership. Some officials in Topeka point to Heartland Visioning and engagement of younger voices in civic life as precipitating those shifts.

Vince Frye, president and CEO of Downtown Topeka Inc. since April 2011, says he was surprised by the deterioration of sidewalks, curbs, and medians in the downtown area, “and that was

Heartland Visioning, which receives both public and private funding, began in 2008 as the result of a community-led effort. A contractor was engaged; a local staff person, William Beteta, was

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Topeka is continuing to invest in its future, focus on community listening and involvement, develop young leaders and make changes that contribute to citizens’ long-term quality of life. FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: Jeremy Taylor of Topeka works on his bicycle at the Topeka Community Cycle Project, a non-profit bike shop located downtown where citizens can learn how to build, maintain and repair bikes and utilize recycled parts; Audrey Senger, 10, of Lawrence, plays at the Kansas Children’s Discovery Center. The center opened in 2011 near Gage Park; A view of the Wanamaker retail and restaurant corridor from northwest Topeka.

hired as executive director; focus groups were assembled; and well-attended community meetings were held to draft a strategic plan. Martha Bartlett Piland remembers that the facilitator repeatedly expressed disbelief at how many people were engaged. “It was a tipping point,” she says. “People wanted to send things into motion and see what they could get going.” The most important thing Heartland Visioning worked to do was strengthen relationships. Heartland Visioning provides a backbone organization to keep groups motivated, celebrate successes and prevent volunteer burnout. It does not commandeer projects or tell groups, agencies or individuals what to do, but brings them together to find out what they can accomplish. “The biggest component to progress that most people identify is that the visioning project [brought] different groups of people together who hadn’t been talking

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before,” says Beteta, an alumnus of KLC’s Community Collaboration Academy in 2010. The visioning process also helped spawn a new culture of listening, according to Bartlett Piland. “People are reaching out, connecting to others through Heartland Visioning or their networks, and I see so much energy and people moving forward with so many things we said we needed to do,” she says. Just as importantly, more and more young professionals are being encouraged to speak up, a big change from past approaches. “The engagement of a diversity of age of people is so important,” says Ogle, the general manager of WIBW and an alumnus of the 2010-11 Kansas Health Foundation Fellows program. “Having their opinions, but also teaching a model of cooperation that will work across generations rather than waiting until they are 50 to make decisions, ‘my turn to be coach.’ We’re not worried about who the coach is —

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we’re worried about how to get it done together.” Young professionals like Kerrice Mapes, founder of seveneightfive magazine, have noticed the difference. Mapes explains that her generation of young professionals is predisposed to civic participation because of a desire to question things and “be in a place that they love.” Members of her cohort don’t get a job and live in the place with the job; instead, they choose where they want to live and then find jobs. “Because people have chosen to live here, they have a vested interest in making this a better place for them,” she says, noting that Heartland Visioning brought frankness to the discussion. “People are more willing to talk and be transparent about their goals and visions,” she says. Fizell of ARTSConnect adds that Topeka is just plain more fun that it used it be. “It’s been really rewarding to be part of a community that is making an effort to be better, to be more fun, to include young professionals and really embrace that side of itself,” she says.

One driver of the engagement of young professionals has been Leadership Greater Topeka. Marsha Sheahan, vice president of public relations for the Greater Topeka Chamber of Commerce, says the course is offered once a year from late January through early May. The class has just under 40 participants each year and is competitive: Only 1 in 3 applicants are accepted. “People consider it a rite of passage,” she says, noting that students learn to build consensus and involve other people. Of the 37 people in the class of 2013, Sheahan says, at least a third are under 30. The Chamber also began Fast Forward as an after-hours group for young professionals 13 years ago, gave it part-time staff and added to it about five years ago, and started using the group to recruit the under-30 set for Leadership Topeka. “It was like unleashing this energy that was waiting for permission,” she says. “We gave them the skills and how-to’s to make what they want to do more effective.”

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COMMUNITY PROFILE: TOPEKA

“steady, persistent progress is what’s going to change Topeka and Shawnee County.”

Looking to the Future: ‘Silver Buckshot’

Persistent progress is the name of the game for Nancy Johnson in her efforts to keep social services on the minds of leaders and citizens in Topeka. As director of the Community Resources Council, Johnson connects social services agencies with other entities and with the people who need them and generates data on service utilization rates and needs in the city. “Economic development is the flash,” she says. “Leaders need to realize that social services, nonprofits are as important as landing the Mars company, because if we don’t have that solid foundation, we’re unsound.”

Topeka continues to invest in its future and focus on community listening and involvement, developing young leaders, and making changes that contribute to citizens’ long-term quality of life. More major and challenging projects may be in the works, including a redevelopment of the waterfront connecting downtown to NOTO that is in the planning stage. Community members are also raising funds to renovate the historic Jayhawk Theatre. Harsh truths about the daunting nature of the task list in Topeka remain plentiful. Topekans like Sheahan and Beteta are realistic yet optimistic. “I think we’re getting better,” Sheahan explains. “We have a huge project list. We have to get on with it and spread the work out so it’s not a handful of people doing all the work.”

Johnson has seen “incredible change” in Topeka in the last five years, and she credits Heartland Visioning. Addressing poverty, however, requires further efforts. “It’s called education,” says Johnson, “and taking off the rose-colored glasses and saying ‘we’ve come a long ways’ but realizing you have progress to make.”

Beteta knows progress will be difficult. Of downtown, he says, “We want to make it an economic engine, a place where people want to go, where businesses want to go because the number of people will make it successful. But there’s no silver bullet. ‘Silver buckshot’ is the term we use.” Beteta notes that each group with their own particular set of values and interests — a faction, in terminology often used at the Kansas Leadership Center— brings a piece of buckshot. Hitting the target of a capital city Kansans can be more proud of will require shooting plenty of buckshot, and some pieces may go astray.

Johnson constantly reminds leaders to appropriately value social services. At a recent Heartland Visioning meeting after city council support for downtown funding had passed, she recounts that people were happily high-fiving and celebrating. “I said to this group, there is nobody who’s happier about this. I’m thrilled. But the next time social service is on the block, are you going to be [at the city council] to support it?” Where does Topeka go from here? Topeka is recovering not from a natural disaster, but from all-too-natural neglect. A city that admittedly suffered from lack of vision has engaged in a visioning process. A place that suffered from the paralyzing sense that slow decline was inevitable now has many people who see better days ahead. Initiatives are beginning to coalesce into meaningful actions and offer hope of revitalizing Topeka while chipping away at its economic divide.

Avoiding Slow-Motion Decline Finding the right combination of listening, engagement and respect is a step in the right direction, but Topekans also must avoid the slow-motion decline that threatens all cities. County Commissioner Shelly Buhler says the high-profile shooting that killed two police officers late last year brought community safety to the front of citizens’ minds. Managing city and county responsibilities and continuing to pursue public safety initiatives will be vital, she says, along with dealing with “the unknowns of budgets we are going to be facing.” She notes that “everyone wants less government except maybe when that impacts you,” and

Continued progress will require more efforts at exercising leadership, engagement and collaboration, and, as City Manager Jim Colson warned the city council at a meeting earlier this year, maintaining a sense of humanity and refraining from “slipping back” into old ways.

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The view of downtown Topeka at night includes the neon sign for the Jayhawk Tower, a onetime hotel. City officials recently voted to dedicate $5 million to infrastructure improvements in the historic city center, which has suffered as retail businesses have sprouted near a west-side mall. Fundraising efforts are also underway to revive the Jayhawk Theatre in the same block. However, revitalizing the city’s historic center defies a single solution and may require “silver buckshot” – a variety of efforts and involvement from different groups – instead of a “silver bullet.”

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REFLECTIONS ON A GLOBAL GATHERING: ‘SMALL FIRES IN LOTS OF DIFFERENT PLACES’ By Nick Ellem Nick Ellem, a leadership development professional from Australia, learned about the KLC last spring when he met President & CEO Ed O’Malley during a program at Harvard’s Kennedy School on leadership development. He traveled to Wichita in November 2012 to join a group of about 60 other leadership development professionals and trainers from around the world for KLC’s global gathering, reuniting with a number of colleagues from the Harvard program. In this column, he reflects on the visit, what he learned about leadership and the KLC and what the experience meant to him.

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What stays with me so vividly since our gathering is meeting people emboldened by, and who care deeply about, helping create the right kind of leadership in their own settings.

lodged in us, and better equipping ourselves to mobilize others to find a way forward on a bigger problem. What also struck me was that I learned about designing smart experiments. They are essential to making progress, and I realized that trial and error may be required to find new ways of working, which is risky and hard for most to take onboard. Sharing our own risk taking in doing this work all around the world made me realize how our challenges are so similar despite the differences in our cultures, our histories, and where we came from, whether that was from the U.S., U.K., Nigeria, Norway, France or Australia, among others.

The gathering was an opportunity to learn and be pushed from my peers and the group as a whole. It helped build a muscle, a muscle to make progress on personal and civic leadership challenges. The gathering made me realize how often we avoid the real work at hand. For example, there is a community organization I’m working with at the moment on a real issue. It was shocking to see how many times people blindly look to the authority in the room for answers or unconsciously divert attention away from the problem by blaming others. It was perplexing to see, but not uncommon when the issue seems so complex.

KLC has given me hope, hope that despite the temptation for quick fixes, we can come to realize deep down that our challenges require us to look at the hard reality of our default beliefs, values and actions, which may be getting in the way of making progress on tough, unrelenting civic challenges.

I think back every day about our experiences in Kansas, people’s stories and personal aspirations around creating large-scale leadership for the common good. Therefore, I am humbled and energized in those heated moments, despite the prevailing wind we are coming up against in doing leadership in such a transforming way.

Those of us working on civic challenges owe it to ourselves and our communities -- despite the discomfort we might be creating in others -- to surface what’s really at stake and speak to the losses that might need to be endured to make progress on a really tough issue. It is also about what ways of operating are important to conserve and acknowledging what is precious and worth keeping in our existing repertoire and histories. The work KLC is doing energizes me every day.

I also remember when we were at KLC, a colleague shared her aspirations of creating healthier schools in her country and she told our group about the progress she is making in holding people’s attention and energizing others around the problem. This example makes me think about what we are asking others to do, which is to reprioritize what really matters and face up to an uncomfortable truth in service of something we collectively care deeply about.

What Marty Linsky (a Harvard faculty member and former consultant for KLC) said at Harvard and repeated in Kansas remains with me. His call to action: that if we spent more of our time exercising leadership than we do now, we would help make the world a better place.

Kansans are so fortunate to have organizations like KLC. It is a global beacon for those who are involved in the business of developing people’s capacity to exercise leadership for the common good.

I came to Kansas as a lone wolf trying to make progress on some really tough leadership challenges but left knowing there is a wider network across the world, particularly in Kansas, that I can turn to for support and challenge. As someone poignantly said on our last day together in November, we are, “small fires in lots of different places” now.

KLC taught me if I stepped back from a challenge in my community instead of jumping in with the answers, that allows room for a real conversation that is important to everyone, despite how good giving answers makes me feel normally. KLC made me think about how I get caught up a lot with my own story, when it’s not about me but the many other people who I am trying to help think differently. It springs to mind that what adaptive work actually requires is dealing with the part of problem that is

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REVIVING NEWTON’S HISTORIC FOX THEATRE: A g r o u p o f c i t i z e n s k e e p N e w t o n’ s H i s t o r i c Fo x T h e a t r e running to contribute to the cultural life of their community.

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Carrie Vansickle (seated) Barth Hague, vice president Adam Hartke, executive director Gini Johnson Coleman Rosalind Scudder Barb Burns, president Tim Buller, treasurer Janis Whitfield

Irish dancers perform with Cherish the Ladies at the Fox Theatre, Newton, Kan.

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The Boxcars bass player Harold Nixon is silhouetted against the back of the Fox Theatre in a show in November of 2012.

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The Boxcars perform at the Fox Theatre in November of 2012

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It’s often hard for people to see the same possibilities in a tough situation.

EXERCISING LEADERSHIP MEANS JOURNEYING WITH OTHERS AND BUILDING UP A SHARED BIG DREAM OF PROGESS The volunteers hoping to restore the Historic Fox Theatre in downtown Newton didn’t just see a once-abandoned iconic building that needed a lot of repairs and maintenance. They saw a place with the potential to inspire, entertain and serve Newton residents in the coming decades, much as it did during its glory days of the 1950s. The Newton Performing Arts Center, Inc. group didn’t just tell others about the potential. They tried to show them by having four “under construction” concerts last year, including one with an Irish musical group in December. The Fox board, according to The Newton Kansan, now plans a fundraising effort to pay for some needed repairs needed to reopen the theater. It’s a reminder that the path to change doesn’t just run through the head. It also runs through the heart and in joining with others to laugh, cry, cheer and applaud together.

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ALUMNI PROFILES LEADERSHIP & FAITH EDITION

How has your experience with Leadership & Faith impacted your involvement in community issues?

My perspective on leadership now enables me to see opportunities to lead that I did not see before this experience. I find myself consistently asking “what is another interpretation?” or “how could I energize others?” Based on a leadership challenge that you have, how have you been able to use a KLC competency?

MATT ADAMS Participant in The Art & Practice of Civic Leadership Development Faith and community impact pastor at Westside Family Church in Lenexa who fosters collaboration across pastors and congregations on tough community issues.

Why do you think it is important for people of faith to be involved in community leadership?

As a follower of Christ, I am compelled to care for the poor, the homeless, the oppressed, the widow, the orphan. People of faith look at the needs of a community as an opportunity to live out the gospel, the good news we believe in. Our faith is the fuel that motivates us to lead. We cannot stand by while a community endures hardship. Where are you originally from?

I am from the Maryland/Delaware area; most of my first 18 years we spent living in Dover, Delaware.

We’ve been working to develop a coalition of organizations that would work together to address the commercial sexual exploitation of children in Kansas City. We’ve identified several factions, each working to address the issue from a different perspective. The competencies are helping us to address perceived loss of the various factions. I believe we will be able to develop a plan that will enable the different organizations to fulfill their unique mission while aligning with a larger plan and greater combined impact. How has your church been impacted as a result of your involvement with Leadership & Faith?

Perhaps the most significant impact, beyond helping me to be more effective as a leader, is that I am more able to see people around me as leaders. It is exciting to recognize the potential of others and to help them grow as leaders by teaching them various competencies. What others have to say:

Where do you live now?

I live in Shawnee. What personal, professional or civic roles outside of church are most important to you?

I facilitate a movement of about 40 churches in the Kansas City area called, “What if the Church?” We build relationships between pastors and congregations and collaborate to address significant community issues: literacy, homelessness, abuse, poverty, foster care, sex trafficking, etc.

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“Matt Adams is using his extraordinary gifts of leadership and organization to help build unity and collaboration among churches and ministries all across the Kansas City metro. He has excellent communication and management skills, and he has a great heart of compassion to serve the least, the last and the most broken and hurting in our city. All of us who serve on various city teams are learning from Matt's knowledge and passion to see neighborhood transformation and communities impacted for the gospel and for the kingdom of God. I am personally grateful for Matt's friendship and his leadership,” says Pastor Gary Schmitz, executive director of Citywide Prayer Movement KC.

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Leadership & Faith Transforming Communities is a KLC program designed for Kansas faith congregations wanting to make their communities healthier and more prosperous.

How has your experience with Leadership & Faith impacted your involvement in community issues?

I realize that leadership is needed in every aspect of our lives. And sometimes leadership is raising the heat, getting every voice in the room — all important information I learned at Leadership & Faith Transforming Communities. Based on a leadership challenge that you have, how have you been able to use a KLC competency?

I am currently working on a challenge that I am focusing on the engagement process. If we can get people to share while they are at the table, then we can start to make progress on the issue. It can be difficult to “raise the heat in the room,” but it is probably one of the most important factors in getting a group to make progress on the issue at hand.

LISA HATCHER Participant in the Leadership & Faith Teams Program (First United Methodist Church in Liberal) and works on meeting basic needs of school-age children.

Why do you think it is important for people of faith to be involved in community leadership?

How has your church been impacted as a result of your involvement with Leadership & Faith?

Leadership is important in any organization. When churches with good community leadership are healthy and prosperous, they impact others outside the church, which in turn builds a stronger, healthier, thriving community.

Our pastor asked members of our congregation to host small home gatherings in order to gather input from as many members as possible. Because they were small groups, I believe we received a lot more information than we ever could have hosting one large meeting asking for ideas. We used this information for a vision planning session to prioritize our goals and set a direction for our church.

Where are you originally from? I grew up in Satanta. Where do you live now? Liberal.

What others have to say:

What personal, professional or civic roles outside of church are most important to you?

I am currently serving as president of Liberal Bright Futures. It is an organization whose sole purpose is to help school-age kids get their basic needs met so that they may be successful in school. What I truly love about this particular organization is Bright Futures serves as a “bridge” between students and community resources — we just connect the needs with the people or organization that can meet that need. It really brings the community together for the benefit of children in the hopes that kids stay in school and become a contributing member of their community. Teamwork at its best!

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“Leadership-wise, (Lisa) brings a lot of energy and a positive perspective on things … she’s pretty persistent, and basically what I see is a lot of her working with every faction and stakeholder in the community and trying to get them involved in different things,” says Pastor David Randall of First United Methodist Church in Liberal.

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ALUMNI PROFILES LEADERSHIP & FAITH EDITION

County Food Pantry and Communities LINC’d to Healthier Direction. The pantry, founded by the UMC, is currently working toward collaborative partnership within the county and the increased involvement of community members. Communities LINC’d to Healthier Direction recently formed to engage Lincoln County in growing in healthy directions: the overall physical, mental, environmental and social well-being of a person or a community of persons. Because of my experience with the L&F, and the work of the “What If” Team in Lincoln County, I have been honored to be the guest speaker at the Chamber of Commerce as well as numerous civic organizations, the Mitchell County Leadership Team trainings and also their leadership alumni breakfast. (Mitchell County is Lincoln County’s northern neighbor.)

KAYE METZLER Pastor in the Lincoln County Cluster (Barnard-BeverlyLincoln United Methodist Churches) and is an alumna of the Leadership & Faith Teams Program. She is working to improve health and wellness in central Kansas.

Based on a leadership challenge that you have, how have you been able to use a KLC competency?

Why do you think it is important for people of faith to be involved in community leadership?

I believe that faith is but one of the vital pieces of the collective voice at the community’s core. Community is formed around a given set of core values and beliefs which shape the community. These values and beliefs guide the community’s purpose as well as the creation of a vision for the community. For me, faith acts as the directional compass in this process while serving as a stabilizing anchor in the collective process of leadership. Where are you originally from?

Originally I am from Northwest Kansas – Colby. Where do you live now?

Currently I live in Central Kansas – Lincoln. What personal, professional or civic roles outside of church are most important to you?

I love being a wife, mother of three and grandmother of two. It is a very important role in my life. My faith is not limited to my role within the church; my faith informs who I am and also directs my involvement in multiple roles, with multiple age groups, including my interests in health care, advocacy for rural issues and the elderly. How has your experience with Leadership & Faith impacted your involvement in community issues?

My experience with Leadership & Faith has impacted my involvement in community issues in many ways including the Oversight and Administration Council of the Lincoln 86.

I have no doubts that the KLC competency training has helped to strengthen my leadership and sharpen my leadership skills. I have found myself utilizing the competencies taught through the KLC numerous times and in numerous settings. Understanding and utilizing the “management of self” has helped me to more effectively engage with others. How has your church been impacted as a result of your involvement with Leadership & Faith?

The UMC churches of Lincoln County have been impacted by my involvement in the L&F through many areas including the food pantry and “Goodness Garden” Project. Each of the churches of the Lincoln Cluster has 1-2 representatives who trained at the KLC. The “team” has raised the awareness of collaborative partnering within the community through engagement with city and county offices as well as many civic organizations. Through the team’s work at diagnosing the situation and energizing others, a greater awareness and interest in growing a healthier Lincoln County has begun. Because of the team’s competencies of leadership, our work has been instrumental in the application of a Healthy Initiatives Grant for Lincoln County. What others have to say:

“She’s kind of a quiet leader. She gets all the right people to the table, and she’s good at getting people with different strengths to come forward. She lets everybody into the process … she wants everybody to get involved and show their strengths,” says LaDonna Reinert, administrator of the Lincoln County Health Department.

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Where do you live now? My family and I now live

in northwest Wichita. What personal, professional or civic roles outside of church are most important to you?

I love to work with youth and children. I have coached sports teams that my kids were on and served at camps where I hope to instill the belief in youth that they to have the opportunity to impact our culture and communities in significant ways. How has your experience with Leadership & Faith impacted your involvement in community issues?

MIKE GADDIE A pastor at United Methodist Church @ The Well in Wichita and a participant in the Leadership & Faith Teams Program. He aspires for faith communities not to just meet needs but to build relationships that support and sustain others over the long term.

Why do you think it is important for people of faith to be involved in community leadership?

First, I believe that one of the greatest reasons for people of faith to be involved in community leadership is due to the passion to care for, reach out to, and lift up individuals and families in our communities. What I mean by lifting up has to do with the fact that many people in our communities have great needs, and those needs don't always just need to be "filled" as much as folks possibly need support to be able to meet their own needs. As a faith community, I would hope that folks understand the servant leadership of Jesus Christ as an example of how we might serve our community, through community. I believe that some, outside a faith community, understand needs and only look to meet them instead of building relationships that sustain and support over a longer term. This is not to say that other agencies do not try to do this at some level, but I would hope it is primary component when faith communities engage in service. Leadership isn't about handing out, but engaging in and empowering others to do more themselves. Where are you originally from? I grew up in Howard,

just about an hour southeast of Wichita. It was a small community of about 900 people.

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My involvement has helped me to realize that many people are just flat-out unaware of the needs of our communities. By offering opportunities for them to hear from the sometimes "unheard" voices of others who live in their communities, I hope to open them up to the reality that they too can be active in making change in our culture today. My involvement has helped me to empower others to seek information about community issues and then take first steps at addressing them. How has your church been impacted as a result of your involvement with Leadership & Faith?

The greatest impact on my church has been that I am much more active at engaging others in conversation and working with them to bring about a better understanding of how they might engage leadership in new ways by serving with and alongside others. Just recently, we invited a founder of a group focused on addressing the issue of human trafficking, specifically in regards to the human sex trade, to come share with our church. Through what that individual shared, many have stepped forward to stand in the gap and engage in ways to address this issue. It would be difficult to name just one person, as many stepped forward that evening to seek different ways in which they could get involved.

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PASTURELAND BY JUSTIN MARABLE

Justin Marable was raised in Robinson, a northeastern Kansas farm town. Throughout his life, Justin has learned and wandered within the boundaries of his Midwestern homeland, observing the landscape and landmarks of the surrounding region. Printmaking, drawing and music have become his main methods of artistic expression. Justin graduated from the University of Kansas in 2005 with a BFA in printmaking. He currently resides in the Kenwood neighborhood of Topeka with his wife and daughters. He works full time at his home as an artist, husband and father. I often find myself somewhere in between nostalgia and a present state of urban awareness. It is here where connections converge to create a clear perspective of beauty in the familiar and contentment in the surroundings of place. In this middle ground, I find inspiration in geography and history of the Midwest. Social and environmental issues drive much of my work as well as influences from family, nature and everyday life. Serigraphy, or screen printing, and mixed media with drawing, photography and painting are my preferred mediums. I’m currently working on an exhibition called "Consumed" at the Alice C. Sabatini Gallery in the Topeka and Shawnee County Library. It will run from April 5 - May 19. The art will take aim at environmental awareness, land use and human history. The work will provoke playfulness with satire to somewhat relieve the weight of the topics allowing for a more approachable and accessible exhibition. Over time, I’ve discovered my work resonates with a wide and varied audience and seems to connect with many on some basic level. The imagery within my work comes from a very honest place. I was born and raised in the Midwest, a place where I’ve continuously deepened my roots and reflected on rural memories. My hope is to provide an ongoing stream of original art that flows from roots of urban and rural Kansas to the surrounding local and global community for years to come. Here in Kansas I’ve chosen to settle, grow my roots and create a life grounded in art, family and community.

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BAND PRACTICE BY RAMONA MCCALLUM A tsunami of sound rises up the walls and finds me at the top of the stairs, laundry basket riding on my hip the way my babies used to do. Below, in the basement, in the room where they used to play with Legos, now my boys are building a band. I’ve been observing this progression from a distance—their discovery of specific music they like, posters stapled on ceilings, tee shirts worn like uniforms to identify who their ears work for. And recently, instruments they’ve picked up on their own.

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When I started as Kansas Poet Laureate, I put out the call for Kansas poems for www.150KansasPoems.Wordpress.com (eventually published as the anthology “Begin Again: 150 Kansas Poems”). Ramona McCallum, a Garden City woman, sent me a batch of poems so original, tender, visionary and fierce that I wrote her back immediately, “Who are you?” She is one of the strongest Kansas poets I know. Her work is published in anthologies and journals with her first collection forthcoming from Woodley Memorial Press. Ramona's poetry celebrates the nuances, gifts, surprises and sparks of life around us. A mother of five, she works in juvenile justice, schools, galleries and the arts, often organizing community events and projects that help young people recover their creative spark (even serving as regional coordinator for Poetry Out Loud). Her poem "Band Practice" shows us the interior landscape of facilitating the next generation's art, expression and sense of belonging. I think the strongest way to lead is to facilitate others in cultivating their strength, courage and vision, and Ramona shares how she does this in and beyond her home. – CARYN MIRRIAM-GOLDBERG

I have to put the basket down, lean into the doorframe, listen. They wrote this tune—the composition’s buoyant, clear and pretty soon I’m way back when, hearing live rock and roll at a show: guitars raw and honest, strings responding to fingers pronouncing notes my body translates to sway and nod—slight at first, then in full agreement with how melody makes me feel. Except these notes not only travel back and forth by octaves but in between wide frets of time, eighteen years reverberating all at once as though this song has been in the background all along—on a million trips to the store for milk or while I changed diapers, found chore charts buried under unfinished homework, lost my share of arguments and kept a running tally of anniversaries and bills. The soundtrack of a lifetime, full volume, turning up like a glove whose perfect match waves at me from the past. And as the air around me settles presently to smooth electric hum, I add my contribution to their creation—bring together these hands which seem decades apart, bring them together right here, with fierce and absolute applause.

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THE BACK PAGE

HORN TOOTING The organist leaned into the wheezy pipe organ. The prelude to the doxology cascaded through the sanctuary. It was the congregation’s musical cue to rise and lift voices.

You’re holding the first of four Journals you will receive this year. We know this magazine resonates. You’ve told us so. So we’ll publish them twice as often (See p. 4).

Seated between my parents on a hard wooden pew of the First Christian Church in Plainville, sporting a Brylcreemed pompadour and a clip-on necktie, I followed their lead. Mom, whose voice is a beautiful instrument, sang with full, unabashed emotion.

We’re deeply vested in some experiments. Take Care of Yourself workshops (see p. 63) offer a chance to get away, reflect and reconnect to your sense of purpose.

“Praise God from whom all blessings flow…” My father felt the spirit, but couldn’t sing his way out of a wet paper bag. Tone deaf. So Pop found other ways to share in the community of faith. He would serve as an usher and teach Sunday school. Listen and you’ll hear similar chords in our work at the Kansas Leadership Center. Various instruments, designed to make various sounds. All aimed at offering skills that result in leadership for the common good. So what am I talking about? The playlist is varied. This spring brings more opportunities to participate in a KLC experience. Monthly programs also offer vital personal schedule flexibility. Hours of intellect, emotion and energy have been poured into a new team coaching framework, debuting this year with some forward-looking southeast Kansans in Project 17 (see p. 18) and the Visioneering Health Alliance in Wichita.

Two of our founders, Ed O’Malley and David Chrislip, are finishing a book about the ideas that drive our work at the Kansas Leadership Center. The book shares our belief that civic leadership needs to become more purposeful, provocative and engaging. All this may sound a bit self-serving (but Rule No. 1 in The Guide to Effective Organizational Horn Tooting is clear: Toot the horn). So, we’ll toot our horn in places where we find those who want to hear the music. And it will take many forms, so it doesn’t matter if you’re tone deaf. We’re even forming a Konza Chorus. If you want to sing, please contact Amanda Cebula on the KLC staff. Seriously. We hope we’re artful enough to toot the horn, lean into the organ and sing so that when the music washes over you, it leads to deeper emotional ownership in these ideas, in yourselves, in your communities and in Kansas. Mike Matson is Director of Innovative and Strategic Communication for the Kansas Leadership Center.

This summer, we’ll move into shiny new digs in downtown Wichita. The building will bring an entire new level of visibility to our ideas. So we’re deep into the planning of some events to allow you a chance to experience it. New partnerships are being explored, relationships cultivated, because while we’re proud that we add roughly a thousand alumni each year, the overwhelming majority of Kansans have not heard our music.

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“ T HER E IS NO T IM E L IKE S PRING, WH EN L IF E'S A LIV E IN EVERYTHING, ” Christina Rossetti - Victorian poet (1830-1894)

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300 N. MAIN, SUITE 100 WICHITA, KANSAS 67202